Extreme Right and Populism: A Frame Analysis of Extreme Right Wing Discourses in Italy and Germany. IHS Political Science Series No. 121, July 2010

This paper addresses the interactions between the extreme right and populism, looking at right wing discourses in Italy and Germany, focusing on different types of extreme right organizations (political parties, violent subcultural/young right wing groups, and political movements), and adopting a social movement perspective. Through a frame analysis conducted on several types of organizational documents (newspapers, websites, online guest books and forums, and other forms of publications), covering a period from 2000-2006, for a total of 4000 frames, it explores empirically the aspect of the conceptualization of the populism by the extreme right, showing the bridging of the appeal to the people with some traditional frames of the extreme right, such as nativism and authoritarianism, and stressing how the central populist frames (the people versus the elite) are linked to the extreme right definition of the 'us' and the 'them', when developing diagnoses, prognoses and motivations to action. A political opportunity and discursive approach will be useful in explaining the different configurations of populist frames depending on country and organizational type

Movements and Parties: An Introduction

The article provides an analytical introduction to the Symposium devoted to Sidney Tarrow's "Movements and Parties. Critical Connections in American Political Development". First, it discusses the relevance of the book with regards to the Movement-Parties scholarship. Second, it presents the content of the Symposium, focusing on the main arguments developed by the various authors

Symposium on Mario Diani’s book. An Introduction

For Symopium abstract is not require

Symposium on Mario Diani’s book. An Introduction

For Symopium abstract is not require

Movements and Parties: An Introduction

The article provides an analytical introduction to the Symposium devoted to Sidney Tarrow's "Movements and Parties. Critical Connections in American Political Development". First, it discusses the relevance of the book with regards to the Movement-Parties scholarship. Second, it presents the content of the Symposium, focusing on the main arguments developed by the various authors

The use of religion by populist parties : the case of Italy and its broader implications

The rise of populist parties in Europe and the increasing salience of religion in political discourse are two relevant, sometimes discussed as interrelated, phenomena of recent decades. While most analysis focuses on right-wing populism, this does not exhaust all possible relationships. This study addresses the role of religion in populist parties by focusing on the Italian case and adopting a comparative cross organisational perspective shedding light on how left-wing and right-wing populists use religion for different purposes. Drawing on interview data with party representatives and analysis of organisational documents and speeches, we explore the presence and the uses of religious appeals in the two populist Italian parties in recent years. We show that their use of religion varies on three dimensions: i) hierarchy of identifications, ii) salience, and iii) frame. The League represents 'cultural populism': religion is used as an 'identity marker' that is highly salient and an instrument for framing specific topics. Conversely, the Five Star Movement exemplifies 'political/economic populism', in which religion as an identifier is present but less salient and used to frame citizenship in juridical/legalist terms. These different usages of religion lead to different definitions of the 'people' and therefore in-group constituencies

Setting the scene: Filling the Gaps in Populism Studies

This article introduces the conceptual and analytical framework for the special issue, which explores the cultural side of populism: the relationships between politics, emotions, music, and subcultures in populist contexts. We highlight the role that cultural and symbolic 'products' (such as music, emotions, narratives, and visual symbols) play in the emergence and spread of populism. First, we explore the opportunities afforded by understanding the concept of populism from a cultural/symbolic point of view, reaching beyond the traditional party politics literature to which it is usually confined. Second, we suggest different ways in which populism has been articulated in various European countries (e.g. popular cultures, subcultures) since the economic crisis of 2008, emphasizing music, narratives, visuals, and emotions as means of the populist symbolic construction of the political and social reality. Third, from a social movement perspective, we reflect on the mechanisms (cognitive, emotional, normative) that may help understanding the current populist 'momentum', as well as on the methods to empirically grasp them

Between violent and non-violent action strategies: a study on extreme-right organizations in Italy and Spain

This paper focuses on the different forms of action adopted by extreme right organizations (both political parties and non-party groups) in Italy and Spain during their recent mobilization and links them to the environmental conditions and internal organizational factors which might affect them. With particular attention paid to the actors’ perceptions of reality, the macro-level factors (such as the favourable or unfavourable political opportunities of the context, the availability of allies in power, the degree of repression by authorities, etc.) as well as the meso-level factors (such as the internal characteristics of extreme right groups and their dynamics) will be explored in order to understand the action strategies of extreme right organizations and their recourse to violence. This paper, drawing on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, will be based on 20 semi-structured interviews with extreme right representatives of the main right wing organizations in Italy and Spain as well as a protest event analysis of newspapers dating from 2005 to 2009. clos

Extreme right and populism: a frame analysis of extreme right wing discourses in Italy and Germany

'Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Interaktion zwischen Rechtsextremismus und Populismus durch eine Analyse rechter Diskurse in Italien und Deutschland. Die Studie fokussiert sich auf verschiedene Typen von rechtsextremen Organisationen (politische Parteien, gewalttätige subkulturelle/ junge rechtsextreme Gruppierungen und politische Bewegungen) aus der Perspektive der sozialen Bewegungsforschung. Anhand einer Frame-Analyse diverser Dokumente (Zeitungen, Internetseiten, Online-Gästebücher und -Foren sowie andere Veröffentlichungen) wird über einen Zeitraum von 2000 bis 2006 für insgesamt 4000 Frames empirisch erforscht, wie die extreme Rechte Populismus konzeptionalisiert. Dabei wird die Verbindung von Bürgeraufrufen mit traditionellen Begrifflichkeiten der extremen Rechten wie Nativismus und Autoritarismus dargestellt und herausgestrichen, wie zentrale Populismus-Frames (die einfachen Leute gegen die Elite) mit rechtsextremen Definitionen von 'wir' und 'die anderen' verlinkt sind, wenn Diagnosen, Prognosen und Handlungsmotivationen entwickelt werden. Diskursive Ansätze und die Analyse politischer Gelegenheitsstrukturen erscheinen als geeignet, um die je nach Land und Organisationstyp unterschiedliche Konfigurationen populistischer Frames zu erklären.' (Autorenreferat)'This paper addresses the interactions between the extreme right and populism, looking at right wing discourses in Italy and Germany, focusing on different types of extreme right organizations (political parties, violent subcultural/ young right wing groups, and political movements), and adopting a social movement perspective. Through a frame analysis conducted on several types of organizational documents (newspapers, websites, online guest books and forums, and other forms of publications), covering a period from 2000-2006, for a total of 4000 frames, it explores empirically the aspect of the conceptualization of the populism by the extreme right, showing the bridging of the appeal to the people with some traditional frames of the extreme right, such as nativism and authoritarianism, and stressing how the central populist frames (the people versus the elite) are linked to the extreme right definition of the 'us' and the 'them', when developing diagnoses, prognoses and motivations to action. A political opportunity and discursive approach will be useful in explaining the different configurations of populist frames depending on country and organizational type.' (author's abstract)

The Europeanization of public discourse in Italy: a top-down process?

European integration has raised hopes and concerns about its effect on the distribution of power among different actors, and in particular on the role of the civil society. Focusing on the Europeanization of public discourse in Italy as a case study, this article addresses the specific problem of the formation of supranational public spheres. On the basis of content analyses of daily press and interviews, we argue that various forms of Europeanization of the public discourse are indeed on the rise, with a growing presence not only of purely European actors but also of European targets and frames. Europeanization appears to have been traditionally a ‘top-down’ process: in fact the more Europeanized is a policy, actor, target or issue scope, the less civil society actors seem to have access to the public sphere. However, some changes across time emerge, with the development of (conflictual) forms of ‘Europeanization from below’