Italy’s Lega Nord: Changing Poses in a Shifting National and European landscape

Abstract

This article examines changing approaches to ethnicity and nationalism of the Lega Nord (LN), a populist far-right political party in Italy, against a backdrop of growing anti-EU and anti-immigrant sentiment. The article reflects on the contexts in which populist and far right politics are taking hold in Italy and in the European Union (EU), with the LN used to illustrate this dynamic. The EU is shaping national politics in new and unexpected ways. The article concludes that the LN is seizing the opportunity to recast itself in Italy by adopting a national anti-euro, anti-austerity, anti-EU project at the same time that populist parties in other member states of the EU are capitalising on deepening societal insecurity and growing opposition to the EU, the euro, immigration and EU-imposed austerity.