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Expert Interview with Professor Piero Garofalo

The following contains edited excerpts from an hour-long interview conducted with Professor Piero Garofalo from the UNH Italian Studies department. Professor Garofalo is a professor of Italian Studies and the coordinator of the Italian Studies program. He has recently taught linguistics and film studies for the Italian department. When he came to UNH there was no Italian program so he was essentially hired to introduce Italian to UNH. He developed many of the Italian courses that UNH offers, started the department’s study abroad program, and worked with others to get the Italian minor and major developed. His research experience, which can be explored in more detail here, includes explorations of culture and cultural production within certain periods, fascism’s relation to this, and internal exile in fascism, to name a few areas of interest. For my interview, we discussed fascism, populism, and media.

Disclaimer: The content is edited for length and clarity, but the meanings behind the answers are not altered. The full transcription can be accessed here for more information. The format shares highlights of quotes or responses on specific topics which demonstrate my understandings as well as Professor Garofalo’s expertise.

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Interviewer: Zoe Dawson (ZD), senior Communication student at UNH

Interviewee: Piero Garofalo (PG), professor and program coordinator for Italian Studies Department at UNH

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On the topic of fascism in relation to our course (p. 2):

ZD: So I’ve looked into your research on the COLA website and I saw that you had some research focus on fascism (PG: Mhm) so first I thought I would share a few of the things that I’ve learned in this class so maybe we can have a conversation about that or hear about your research... So, in a reading by Federico Finchelstein from my class, we read that “Fascism was founded in Italy in 1919 but the politics it represented appeared simultaneously across the world.” (PG: *nods head*) And then, also he talked about Mussolini’s version of [fascism] being that “the creature was bigger than the creator,” which I thought was interesting. And so those two points, I thought, were significant in relation to Italy.

PG: Yeah. So, I think Federico Fincehlsltein is, I think he’s Argentinean (ZD: *nods head*). I’ve read several of his studies and he does a really good job of taking concepts like fascism, in particular, fascism and populism, and globalizing them beyond the usual suspects. So instead of just looking at fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, he’ll look at Latin America and different movements to kind of give a broader perspective.

I definitely agree about what he said about fascism in Italy in the sense of, the term itself obviously comes from Italian. Preceding Mussolini there was a movement in Sicily called The Fasci Siciliani. Fascia really is just a bundle. It’s a bundle of rods or sticks. So, that movement was really a workers’ union, almost like a unionized attempt to form a union against these large landowners and that movement was suppressed. The government intervened and they were striking and twenty-two of them, twenty-two of the strikers, were killed. And that’s a very different type of movement than what Mussolini was doing (ZD: Mhm), even though the origin of the term is the same. Yeah, so we have this movement in Italy that begins in 1919 and takes on the name of fascism, and that term kind of ends up being, you know, good PR (ZD: *laughs*) and has a lot of success internationally and becomes sort of the default term, kind of becomes overused today right? We talk about ‘fascist, anti-fascist’ without contextualizing the terms.

And yeah, I think it also, the second part that you mentioned, I think it definitely did grow much beyond what he was trying to do or thought of. And so, when we talk about fascism, even within that historical context, we need to be careful about what we mean because Italian fascism is different from Spanish fascism from the 1930s, from German Nazism, and so on and so forth, but even though they share many commonalities and a similar sort of source within each of those societies.

On the connections between fascism and populism (pp. 6-9):

ZD: … I have a few questions related to what I’m about to say, but also in our class we’ve learned about the idea of modern populism as being a post-fascist idea, and also being like a reformation of fascism in post-war contexts so what are your thoughts in relation to Italy since fascism was so prominent?

PG: Yeah I understand the definition, but I don’t know that I necessarily agree with that definition because there are many movements that I would describe as populist which I would not describe as fascist (ZD: *nods head*). If populism is also sort of this mass reaction to the elite, we hear that rhetoric a lot. We talk about Trumpism as a form of populism, you hear that rhetoric against the liberal elites and that sort of thing. You know, there was the Occupy Wall Street movement, which was the 99% against the 1%. You could even think about Black Lives Matter movement, as a grassroots movement or people reacting against the elite, the people in power, the people who’ve created a system that doesn’t allow them to flourish.

In Italy, we have two movements, in your blog you talk about them both. We have the League, the Northern Leagues which now have expanded beyond just being the Northern Leagues, that are a populist movement that I would align to some degree more closely with that idea of fascism, of neofascism. But then we have the 5 Star Movement which describes itself as a movement whose major tenets are the environment, sustainability, access to democracy- everyone’s supposed to have a vote and have access to a vote and participate in the vote, you’re not supposed to be excluded, which many of its programs we would associate more with the political left…

So, a direct line between neofascism, or fascism, and populism I don’t necessarily see. Lots of different movements which have certain characteristics that might fall into these different categories. And it’s become such a broad term that it’s begun to also lose its significance. The word itself as you know, the Latin word populus or in Italian popoli, it’s the people and having that word have a negative meaning. I don’t think it co-opted that way either, I like to think that when people are reacting to an injustice that they see that involves fundamental changes in society, that can still be a positive and not fall under the same rubric as Hilter and Mussolini.

ZD: … That made sense. In our class, I think in the same Finchelstein reading, he talks about how the word ‘fascist’ and the word ‘populist’, they’re both sometimes used interchangeably and also used to describe something as evil or bad even when that really isn’t the case with historical definitions, so what you said made sense with that.

Then also relating to fascism, what do you think the remnants of fascism look like in Italy? I know you mentioned the League, which is far-right.

PG: There is a party that’s more in tune with fascism than the League even. Its new name is Brothers of Italy, FDI- Fratelli d'Italia, and that’s like Le Pen’s party in France. So that’s sort of a far-right party that really does see itself as the heir of fascism. Its earlier iteration, Mussolini’s granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini, was a part of it. After World War II, the fascist party was nonexistent, but this party formed called MSI- Movimento Sociali Italiano, Italian Socialist Movement which was really a fascist party, although the die-hards stuck with that it was always a very tiny party.

The other big difference, of course, between Italy and the United States is that Italy has many political parties and it’s easier than here to find a party that conforms more closely with your ideas. Here you kind of have a choice between two parties, and you might agree with everything your party says, but chances are there are divisions. Some things you agree with, some things less. There the parties are much more splintered, there’s an issue that they don’t agree on, they kind of split and go on in different directions.

So this party then became Alleanza Nazionale, or AN- National Alliance, and in that iteration in the 1990s it kind of rehabilitated its image as being professional, not talking about fascism the way it was spoken about in the past but trying just to appear like a legitimate party. They didn’t use a lot of rhetoric, it wasn’t populist in that sense, it wasn’t trying to appeal to people’s emotions and whatnot. It was trying to just rehabilitate fascism in a way that made it seem innocuous and the latest iteration of that party because different moments or scandals or events have led to the elimination of Italian parties… So the latest iteration is this one, Fratelli d'Italia, Brothers of Italy, which is the real right-wing party. The League, the Northern Leagues now there are various Leagues so we just call it the Leagues, shares many commonalities with right-wing parties. In particular its very strong stance against immigration and its xenophobia toward immigrants. In other aspects, it’s anti-European but it’s anti-Italian as well. These parties go back to origins of the modern Italian state where they never see that they’re Italian, that they’re from Venice or Milan. They see their local identity which is what survived for thousands of years. They never managed to bring the puzzle of Italy together to form a unified country.

So, they’re very much rooted in the local; in the local traditions, in the local ideas, the local language, and that’s why they’re anti-immigration. They’re anti-anyone who isn’t them. They’re anti-Southern Italian. They’re anti-everything it seems. They wanna secede, they want total autonomy. That’s why they’re anti-European because European identity kind of erases or limits your national identity… And that’s what we see in Italy, in particular, is that populism frequently takes on that League form of local identity. You have a League in Sicily, it’s the same thing, ‘We wanna be independent.’ So it takes on these kinds of xenophobic and philo-fascist attitudes in many activities. It also sees the central government as the enemy because it conquered Sicily literally. So in Italy populism, with the exception of the 5 Star which is this very different kind of movement, the populist movements tend to be very focused on the local identity and reasserting a local identity that the Italian nation has tried to wash over, eliminate, white-wash for the past 150 years since unification.

ZD: Yeah, I think that’s interesting what you were talking about with the regional specificity kind of. I watched a documentary and one of the politicians was harping on ‘Italians First’ but based on what you said it sounds more like specific to their region, their people first. (PG: Yeah.)

On how populism has affected the political climate in Italy (pp. 9-10):

ZD: … how would you say populism has affected Italy’s overall political climate?

PG: Well it’s definitely created more chaos. The Italian political system was intentionally designed to be weak. After fascism, the Constitution is intentionally designed to not let political parties accomplish very much unless there’s a lot of support for what they’re doing. The moment that there’s opposition to what they’re doing they get kicked out of power. So it always seems like Italian governments don’t last very long, but that’s built into this system…

The populist parties have made that more difficult because there’s less room to compromise. They have very strong stances on big issues that used to be, despite differences, pretty much agreed on… So you’ve lost room to really coalesce, to form a coalition with other parties with enough common ground where you can really accomplish stuff. That’s always been a challenge but not really a big one because we see historically these same parties really ended up forming the next government only with a slight change and then they got the legislation that they wanted to do until they hit the next crisis. There was a lot of predictability. You weren’t worried that the country was gonna go in a completely different political or economic or social direction. Now it’s a lot harder to predict, there’s a lot less certainty and it’s not clear who the opposition is either. The center-left parties are also reforming themselves and fractured and also have less coherent identities so it makes things much more messy and tricky now.

ZD: Yeah that makes sense and I’ve definitely seen that. And it seems really relevant to right now also. I researched a little about Giuseppe Conte’s coalition and that really led to him having to resign.

PG: Yeah, and it was one of the center-left parties that withdrew. They had like 1% of the vote, but that 1% was all they needed, and all of the sudden he didn’t have a majority and he was out. And it was a gamble because they could’ve gone to elections or Salvini could’ve come into power or something and now we have this technocratic government and we’ll see if it lasts until the elections next year.

On the populist presence in the media (pp. 12-13):

ZD: … one of the people I focused a lot on was Matteo Salvini and his use of Facebook and Facebook live to kind of “expose” people like I’ve seen him shouting at immigrant families and things like that. And it’s very blunt and in your face (PG: *nods head* Right) which is effective for his followers which I think is interesting. So if you follow any Italian media and government, how would you say the populist presence is?

PG: I think it’s expressed the most through social media. In Italy, the media for many years was dominated by the RAI, sort of the BBC of Italy. So you had these sort of government-owned and so anything they talked about they’d have to present all the different parties’ sides, everyone had to have equal time on television running for office, this sort of thing. That changed in the 1980s when Silvio Berlusconi came into power, so it’s part of the Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher movement, this neoconservatism of the 1980s… In the last decade especially, social media has become the center ground for promoting your ideas, promoting your campaigns, and being media savvy is extremely important for, especially populist politicians, but modern politicians in general.

One of the things about Donald Trump was this constant use of Twitter, right? Always keeping himself in the news. Obama was considered incredibly media savvy, but he didn’t do things the way that Donald Trump does and Joe Biden is not media savvy in that same way at all. But as you pointed out with Salvini, they’ll do lots of events which they’ll stream live through Facebook. They keep issues in your face. If it’s print media or the 6 o’clock news, it dies after a day or two or three, but they don’t let it die. They keep it in your face, in your feed constantly. So they’re very active on Twitter and other platforms, though certainly, Facebook is the most dominant one. They use it to connect to people and to keep them enraged in a sense, you know? To keep you emotionally invested so that you’re out there voting, promoting that point of view, and you’re keeping them on everyone’s mind. PR is half the battle, so if it’s always out there they must be important, they must have something to say.

ZD: Yeah I was gonna ask how the forms of media play into social and cultural grievances, but that really seems like the answer (PG: Yeah). That it’s so in your face that you can’t really avoid it. I was gonna ask also what populism’s role is in inflating that, but that also seems to be kind of the answer.

PG: Yeah I think that it doesn’t matter what the issue is. Whether it’s a boat capsizing in the Mediterranean or a boat being stopped, or some sort of government scandal- I can’t think of a good one that’s happened recently, but anything is an excuse for outrage that allows them to step forward and say, ‘Look at what they’re doing, we need to stop this’ even if they’re doing the same thing…

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Thank you again to Professor Piero Garofalo for taking the time to be interviewed and giving very insightful answers!

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Finchelstein, F. (2017). From Fascism to Populism in History. Oakland, California: University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvpb3vkk

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Beppe Grillo Defends Son Over Sexual Assault Allegations

A screenshot of Grillo from his video post. Retrieved from la Repubblica.

*Content Warning: Mentions of Sexual Assault and Rape*

Beppe Grillo, a co-founder of the center-left populist party 5 Star Movement, has taken to the internet to defend sexual assault allegations against his son, Ciro. Grillo is known for being a personalist leader, which means much of his support is “on the basis of his personal appeal” (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017, p. 43.) He is also known for being charismatic and emotional. Fittingly, in an extremely emotionally intense video, he questioned why his son hadn’t been put in jail immediately as the law intends if he truly was guilty of rape. He exclaimed, “La legge dice che gli stupratori vengono presi e messi in galera, interrogati in galera o ai domiciliari. Sono lasciati liberi per due anni... Perché non li avete arrestati subito?” which translates to “The law says that rapists are caught and put in jail, interrogated in jail or under house arrest. They are left free for two years ... Why didn't you arrest them immediately?” For some background on the event, Grillo is referring to accusations of sexual assault, rape in particular, against his son Ciro and three friends. The four men are noted as being from highly privileged backgrounds with relatively wealthy and powerful parents. The event is also noted as having occurred in the summer of 2019 at Grillo’s summer house in Sardinia after his son and friends came back from a night of dancing. The accuser is an Italian-Scandanavian girl who they were out with as well. In many cases of assault, it is not uncommon for the victims to not speak out for awhile because the events can be highly traumatic and difficult to process. This event seems to be no exception as she took some time (Grillo claims eight days which he found to be suspicious) to make a statement. This case is back in the news and Grillo’s reaction is being discussed, and largely criticized, by other politicians as well as the parents of the victim.

Grillo’s reaction is a blatant display of misogyny combined with unhinged rage. Although the issue at hand is not necessarily a direct discussion of a political event or issue, such as a campaign or particular policy, Grillo still used media techniques characteristic of populists. For example, as cited in Moffit’s The Global Rise of Populism: Performance, Political Style, and Representation, there is obvious emotionalization of the situation (Moffit, 2016, p. 75). He also privileged the visual over other senses (Moffit, 2016, p. 75). If he had posted a written statement rather than a video the brute anger that was displayed in the video would certainly not be conveyed to the same degree. In addition, he simplified, while simultaneously intensifying, the issue by centering it around his take on the problem (Moffit, 2016, p. 75). These media techniques are common amongst successful populists.

Beppe Grillo being a privileged and powerful individual also should be taken into account when analyzing his reaction to these allegations. Little research has been done on the relationship between gender and populism, but Alessia Donà of the University of Trento recognized the trends that men, the dominant and more privileged gender, tend to vote populists into power and that most populist politicians are men also (Donà, 2020, p. 287). This can perpetuate a cycle of oppression, which leads to mistreatment of women. A helpful definition of oppression explains that “Oppression involves institutionalized collective and individual modes of behavior through which one group attempts to dominate and control another in order to secure political, economic, and/or social-psychological advantage” (Prilleltensky & Gonick, 1996, p. 129). Many men cannot relate to major issues that women face, and do not experience this oppression since they hold a dominant position. This is one of the reasons why diversity and representation in politics is so important. Beppe Grillo, being a personalist leader, especially holds power in his words and actions since many of his supporters likely “felt a personal(ized) connection” to him (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017, p. 43.) They may not see what he’s doing or how he’s reacting as wrong or harmful, which again, perpetuates the oppression that women face in society. Some politicians, such as Giuseppe Conte, have recognized the importance of justice as well as empathy towards the victim. It is unclear what the next steps related to the rape (such as legal actions) will be or how this particular situation will continue to play out as Grillo shared his reaction video recently.

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Wiretapping Journalists in Italy

Italian Justice Minister, Marta Cartabia by Angelo Carconi/EPA featured in The Guardian.

A recent abduction of human rights and privacy in Italy has surfaced in the news. According to Italian journalist Lorenzo Tondo, in an article for The Guardian, “prosecutors wiretapped hundreds of phone conversations involving at least 15 journalists reporting on migration in the central Mediterranean.” This was only recently uncovered by Domani, an Italian news site, although this particular incident began as early as 2017. Originally, journalists had been researching sea rescues of migrants by non-governmental organizations in Trapani, Sicily. Confidential information in phone calls between journalists and various NGO charity staff members was recorded by prosecutors to gain intel. Calls between journalists and lawyers were also noted. Lawyer Michele Calantropo, who had phone calls of his own between him and journalists recorded, stated that “Those wiretaps had to be stopped. They have no relevance in their investigation, not to mention that they are totally outlawed and violate the European convention on human rights.”

This is not the first instance of wiretapping in Italy in order to gain information. Elizabeth Defeis, commented on its regularity in “Italy Journalists, Privacy and Right to Information” by writing, “Wiretapping is used more often and with fewer restraints in Europe than in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Italy wiretapping is most prevalent. Indeed, Italy has been characterized as the ‘eavesdropping centre of Europe’” (Defeis, 2012, p. 42.) There is legislation to combat this issue, although it is authorized for some serious legal proceedings (Defeis, 2012, p. 42.) Additionally, and more recently, senator “Primo Di Nicola of the 5-Star Movement... told the Associated Press that he had proposed a bill to safeguard journalists from the wiretapping of calls with sources.” This proposal may provide some protection of democracy, which is important for Italians. Mudde and Kaltwasser discussed democracy and determined that some democracies have strong written constitutions and many feel strongly about rules in their constitution being upheld; this is the case for Italy (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017, p. 81.) Wiretapping may be unconstitutional, and again, according to Mudde and Kaltwasser could also be an erosion of democracy, and many are trying to determine this concerning this current situation (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017, p. 91). For example, the question of constitutionality is asked by Lina Milella, in an article for la Repubblica. In the legal context, this will be determined as more is learned about the situation.

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COVID-19 in Italy

This infographic explains a bit about how Italy has been hit during the Coronavirus pandemic. The timeline briefly follows the beginning of the pandemic to its current context. There is also a graph regarding media usage as well as a visualization on vaccinations. Elements of the infographic must be explained in more depth to demonstrate what role populism has played.

One of the most significant aspects of the Coronavirus pandemic that relates to populism has been the use of media to deliver information, or rather, misinformation. At the beginning of the pandemic delivery of reliable news was a major problem. As Chart 1 demonstrates, according to research by Alessandro Lovari, the Italian Ministry of Health’s Facebook page gained a major following because citizens were unsure where to find reliable health information at the beginning of the pandemic. At the end of January 2020, the page had 61,196 likers but by the beginning of April, it had 409,145. This shows how important it became to citizens that they had access to reliable information during such a time of uncertainty. While some websites were deliberately spreading misinformation, so were political leaders. For example, Matteo Salvini shared a video of a migrant ship arriving in Italy with the caption, “It is simply insane that the landings continue as if nothing had happened, this government is every day more reckless and deplorable. And Conte has the courage to go and say on TV: “I’m surprised.”” This was a display of Salvini’s xenophobia and an attempt to promote his party’s agenda (pre-COVID) of making border entrance much more difficult for migrants. In addition to this, Luca Zaia, Venetian president and Lega Nord member, spread harmful, xenophobic, rhetoric on television by saying, “we have all seen the Chinese eat live mice.” Unfortunately, the pandemic has caused these kinds of hateful comments to circulate around the globe, whether by populists or non-populists. Overall, problems within the media remain to be an issue in Italy which has affected the pandemic. While some populist politicians have used the pandemic as an opportunity to spread lies and push their own agenda, it is heartening to see Italians yearn for truthful and scientific information in many cases.

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Profile on Susanna Ceccardi

"Susanna Ceccardi, a rising star of rightwing politics in Italy" by Roberto Cappello from The Guardian under IPA/REX/Shutterstock.

One example of a relevant populist political figure within recent Italian history is Susanna Ceccardi. Ceccardi was the mayor of Cascina, Tuscany from June 2016-June 2019, and a member of the right-wing League. Her electoral win was significant as Sylvia Poggioli of NPR describes that Tuscany was “the birthplace of the Italian Communist Party, which was founded in 1921 and has been a bastion of left-wing governance for decades.” In this sense Ceccardi represented not only the minority on a political scale in Tusancy’s history, but also with gender. Her standout concern while in government was cracking down on immigration, aligning heavily with other League members. She also served as a security advisor for Matteo Salvini when he was Interior Minister and was elected to European Parliament, winning a seat for the League in Brussels and becoming the youngest member, in May of 2019.

The documentary Populism on the Rise: The New Italy from March 2019, focused much attention on Ceccardi's role in the Italian government. The documentary introduced her as Cascina’s mayor and noted that she was 29 years old when she dropped out of law school to fight the left and the migrants. It continued on to show an interview with her where she defended that the League looks after work, housing, and welfare while the left prefers to hand money to migrants. This cut to one significant act during her time as mayor, which was getting housing for citizens by moving “refugees elsewhere” from a refugee shelter. Citizens expressed gratitude towards Ceccardi, and “were expected to for the TV cameras,” since they now had a place to live. This highlights her Italians first stance, not uncommon amongst populist leaders.

Ceccardi’s rise to popularity was quite attractive to former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. As mentioned, she was one of his security advisors. The two also used to be “seen on social media as some sort of glamour couple on the right.” Both have used social media (Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook particularly) to market themselves and share some outrageous views to get attention. Additionally, Salvini has publicly called her a lioness because she knows how to defend herself. Julian Coman similarly, though more subtly, discussed her in an article for The Guardian and described her as, “Charismatic, confrontational and usually dressed in a leather jacket and jeans.” While Ceccardi truly is someone who is not afraid to defend herself, this is a characteristic that is often highlighted about her. This may be due to the fact that she is a female politician, and assertiveness is typically attributed as a more masculine trait particularly valued in male politicians (Bos & Schneider, 2014, 248.) Mudde and Kaltwasser also discussed gender in politics, in regards to populists, and said that “some contemporary female populists are also related to populist strongmen… But many female populists are self-made women who have built their own political careers (Mudde & Kalwaltwasser, 2017, 69.) These sentiments are similarly backed by Francesca Scrinzi in “Gendering activism in populist radical right parties. A comparative study of women’s and men’s participation in the Northern League (Italy) and the National Front (France). In-progress preliminary analysis report.” She argued that, “Most scholarly accounts of these male-dominated movements in fact tend to dismiss women as apolitical members whose affiliation is channelled through men – husbands or fathers. Yet women are actively engaged in radical right and anti-immigration organisations across the world and may feel empowered ‘as women’ by their activism (Scrinzi, 2014, 3.)” It is significant that women take on these powerful political roles, and Susanna Ceccardi has demonstrated that she is able to do so.

Despite Ceccardi’s significant political position and breaking of the status quo, she caused some damage to people in her town, which has not gone entirely unnoticed. Michelangelo Berti, local teacher and Democratic activist, explained to The Guardian that “In no time at all, values which were the foundation of a cross-party consensus for 70 years are being demolished. Ideas of solidarity, tolerance, minority rights and moral obligation to those in need, even if it costs you something, have gone. The boundaries have been redrawn.” This idea backs the popular notion that “populism is dangerous because it is illiberal” (Canovan, 1999, 7.) This may not always be the case, but populism can be a threat to liberal democracy and its values. Journalist, Fareed Zakaria explained these values in an interview with Vox, by sharing that, “ The whole point of liberal democracy is to create a system that reflects and addresses popular passions but also allows for some deliberation, for some consideration of liberal values like the rights of minorities and free expression and private property.” Some acts by Ceccardi certainly go against these things. At the end of the day Susanna Ceccardi, who has supported some ethically questionable League principles but was a successful mayor, represents a strongwoman personality in the highly male-dominated populist arena.

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Review of Populism on the rise: The new Italy

Beppe Grillo at a Five Star Movement Convention in Rome. Image accessed from la Repubblica. 

The documentary Populism on the rise: The new Italy shows the political situation in Italy by interviewing politicians, political scientists, and citizens. It particularly highlights how and why populism has been growing in popularity in the country, and largely relates this to the issue of immigration. The film is from 2019 and was made by Gert Anhalt and Alexander von Sobeck. It was shared via Deutsche Welle, a German international media outlet. Overall I found the documentary to be quite informative. It certainly expanded my understanding of what populism looks like in Italy, as I was able to actually see its manifestation rather than just read on the topic.

The film began with a brief overview on the shifting political makeup of the Italian government, which demonstrated that there is intent to restructure Italy, and Europe, through populism. This was further explained in the film when interviewing League and Five Star Movement politicians and activists. One League politician, Flavio Di Muro, emphasized the issue of immigration, seeing it as a problem that the rest of Europe does not deal with since many take refuge in Italy and then move to a final destination in a different country. Another politician, League member Susanna Ceccardi (mayor of Cascina), also harped particularly on anti-migration and anti-left issues. One thing Ceccardi did that was popular amongst her party and supporters was relocating refugees from housing to take over buildings for citizens of Cascina. She argued, “of course I’m talking about Italians first.” This stance from Ceccardi is also similarly highlighted in an article in The Guardian, where Julian Coman wrote, “Ceccardi is also the new party boss in Tuscany, where a Trumpian “Italians first” message is conquering great swathes of political territory.” These particular ideas in the film backed my understanding of how “in the European context populism often refers to anti-immigration and xenophobia.” (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2.) Although some information was not entirely new to me the film did provide better context by sharing specific examples of local issues in Italian cities.

Another major theme of the documentary focused on how citizens have reacted to populism in Italy. The film led up to a Five Star Movement convention that drew in supporters and politicians from across the country. A few interviews from this convention were shared but then suddenly the media was unwelcome. This was because Luis Di Maio, from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Beppe Grillo, founder of the Five Star Movement, arrived and are not fond of journalistic media. The film showed Di Maio introducing Grillo as “the father of us all.” The documentary narrator compared him to more of an embarrassing uncle as they showed him yelling and insulting people and places while on stage. Despite this, attendees were still fascinated and supportive while he spoke. This part of the documentary demonstrated many themes relevant to populism. For example, having a charismatic leader is characteristic of populism. Grillo certainly demonstrated this based on people’s reactions to him. Additionally, according to Margaret Canovan, populism “is powered by the enthusiasm that draws unpolitical people into the political arena.” (Canovan, 6.) This was also clearly demonstrated in the film as many ordinary people had become populist Five Star Movement or League members and politicians, but still many citizens were putting their trust in populism enthusiastically.

Something I appreciated about the film was that it addressed several differing perspectives on the topic of populism. Not only were some clear right-wing politicians and activists interviewed, but also political scientists and left-leaning politicians. Marco Valbruzzi, who has studied and teaches political science, shared a particularly interesting fact about populism when interviewed. He stated that “Italians think that immigrants make up 25% of the country when really it is only 10%” and continued on to explain that it is in the gap of misunderstanding that populist and anti-establishment ideals thrive. This also relates to Canovan’s idea of unpolitical people being able to do well in populism, because they can rely on people being unaware of the facts but still willing to rally for what they think may be true. Valbruzzi related this to immigration when mentioning that the League “has succeeded in transforming the fear of people into votes.” In a similar vein, former center-left Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi was also interviewed on the topic of migrants and refugees. He, who was beat-out by populists in his reelection, recognized that immgration had become a growing concern for Italians, but said, “I don’t accept to refuse my humanity.” This was quite a contrast to the populist politicians interviewed, who had generally all taken an Italy-First stance. The differing perspectives displayed in the film were helpful to view populism through a wider lens.

Overall, the documentary Populism on the rise: The new Italy was helpful in demonstrating how populism has grown in popularity and relevance in Italy. The film shared many different perspectives, all valuable to further understanding the political and social climate in the country. Many argued that populism has given inspiration to imagine a new Italy, which was shown to be difficult for some. It is impossible to say what exactly is best for Italy, and what role populism can assume. Some argue for progress and some argue for total restructuring, but the film concluded in emphasizing a need for conscious and confident citizens in hopes for a brighter future in Italy.

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Sardines Against Salvini Collage

My collage is inspired by the anti-populism Sardines against Salvini (Sarde contro Salvini) protest movement in Italy. The people protesting far-right populism, which Salvini practiced, characterized themselves as sardines because they would pack so many people into streets, town squares, and other public areas. This can be seen in the sardine can image in my collage, which actually shows a crowd of people protesting in Bologna rather than actual sardines. The Sardines say “We are the Sardines against Salvini! We are many!” Actual sardine fish are shown in the collage facing Salvini holding up protest signs that were from real Sardine protests. In the collage Salvini is saying, “But our culture is at risk…” in reference to his views on groups that he feels threaten the traditional Italian way of life.

The Sardines movement began in November 2019, when Mattia Santori and friends announced an anti-Salvini rally in Bologna, in the Emilia-Romagna region, on Facebook. Many people were concerned with the possibility of the League (Salvini’s party) winning the January elections in the region, which was once a center-left leaning area. The movement spread to other regions with similar concerns, mainly regarding increases in hate-speech, racism, and xenophobia. Many have likened Salvini’s leadership to fascist tendencies, which may be a bit of a miscategorization. In an introduction to fascism and populism Finchelstein clarified, “Fascism, like populism, is often used to denote absolute evil, bad government, authoritarian leadership, and racism. These uses of the terms take away their historical meanings.” Despite this, the movement does take a stand against some serious social and political issues. One organizer commented “Being a Sardine means to be part of a huge group — a sea — to be part of a sea to defend you, defend our mutual ideas and values and use this energy to share the values around the country, around the world.” The movement proved to be quite impactful, helping lead to a center-left victory in the January 2020 election in Emilia-Romagna. The initial movement spread to 33 Italian cities, as well as global protests in other cities. For example, in the UK, ‘Le Sardine UK’ “formed to fight the normalization of hate-speech and misinformation they [saw] encouraged by Boris Johnson.” The movement technically ended after the 2020 elections, although protests in the sardine fashion still occur.

Image credit:

- Sardine can

- Sardine crowd

- Sardine fish

- Salvini

- Yellow poster: “The voice of the silent”

- Red and blue fish poster: “The Constitution cannot be touched: It applies! We want a country founded on work, home, school, sanctity, and solidarity”

- White fish poster: Left: “Florence is not linked” Right: “In Florence the only link is the sbriciolona (a traditional salami) to Antico Vinaio (a famous restaurant)”

- Sardine can poster: “Civic sense, respect, humanity”

- Red fish poster: “Fascism is not an opinion it is a crime”

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Matteo Salvini (Not) Welcoming Migrants With Open Arms

This cartoon depicts a situation that began in August of 2019 wherein populist leader Matteo Salvini, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, refused to allow a ship of about 100 migrants to disembark. This was drawn out for 19 days, causing conditions to worsen on the ship and putting passengers at risk. Upon reading about this situation, I thought the sequence of events lent itself well to explanation in a cartoon. The cartoon shows what happened, Salvini’s defense of his actions, and facts about the situation noted after. I thought it was important to display the contrast between what Salvini was saying about the situation and what facts and laws show. A trend within populism is leaders attempting to utilize rhetoric to their advantage, even in a problematic situation they've caused, and this cartoon provides an example of that.

It is important to further explain what happened to have a better understanding of the cartoon. As mentioned, in August of 2019, migrants on a Spanish rescue ship attempted to dock in an Italian port, but Matteo Salvini blocked the ship, causing them to anchor off the island of Lampedusa. This lasted 19 days, which had harmful effects for passengers (13 being transported onto land in Lampedusa, three needing urgent medical care, and others being moved for psychological reasons.) Despite the political chaos and humanitarian issues that arose, Salvini stood by his actions.

Salvini, like many populists, has been outspokenly anti-immigration. A foriegn policy article noted that, “he has denied docking to at least five humanitarian ships carrying rescued migrants, making a show of force against the various NGOs and leaving the migrants at sea for days or weeks at a time.” These actions fit the typical stance of the League party that Salvini is a part of. In a case study on immigration in Italy, Bulli and Soare explained that, “At the political level, since the early 1990s, the position of the radical right, populist Northern League has regularly been synonymous with xenophobia and welfare chauvinism. According to their most recent official stances, the Northern League has become increasingly characterised by a full rejection of multiculturalism and immigration.” Attestation from human rights groups demonstrates that Salvini’s actions, and similar populist anti-immigrantion sentiment, is of great concern. Barbara Molinario, from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees commented that, “The situation is very worrying. NGOs and private ships are doing a very important job, yet the number of deaths at sea tells us it is not enough. And now the worry is that with this law, private ships will stop responding to distress calls to avoid sanctions and will bring migrants back to Libya.” Others were able to acknowledge how troubling Savlini’s actions were.

Many, including the then Prime Minister, Guissepe Conte, criticized Matteo Salvini. He continued to defend himself, but the government took action. At a local level, prosecutors in Sicily accused Salvini of illegal detention which could have led to a jail sentence. The Italian Senate voted to strip Salvini of his parliamentary immunity which causes him to lose certain privileges. Following this, “Salvini was forced out of his position as interior minister shortly after the affair owing to a government crisis he himself had provoked.” The coronavirus put a halt to progress within this case. Proceedings to determine if Salvini will face charges have been postponed until March 2021. In a recent statement, on January 16th following a closed-door hearing, Salvini remained steadfast in his actions and said, “I am totally at ease and proud of what I did. I am sorry only for the cost of the procedure that is being borne by Italian taxpayers and the magistrate’s time that I have wasted.” While Matteo Salvini remains confident in his actions, it is up to the government to decide what will happen to him.

Drawing Inspirations:

Ship inspiration

Salvini (left) inspiration

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A Special Issue Brief on Abortion Attacks in Italy

Banners and posters from a sit-in by pro-choice activists at the Ministry of Health in Rome on July 2, 2020. Organized by the Italian Abortion Contraception Network, activists and organizations called for free and accessible contraception and guaranteed access to abortion. © 2020 Matteo Nardone/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images. Accessed from Human Rights Watch.

Abortion is undoubtedly a highly contested topic. The issue has become largely politicized and tends to be quite polarized, despite being a medically backed procedure. Abortion in Italy became legal in 1978. It is legal for the first 90 days of the pregnancy, with an exception for beyond 90 days if the pregnant woman’s life is at risk. There is also a 7-day waiting period for the patient after consulting with a doctor to determine if abortion is their best option, unless there are serious medical risks to not having an immediate abortion. This waiting period is the longest in Europe. Although abortion is legal, doctors are allowed to refuse to perform abortions, under allowance of conscientious objection. Italian journalist, Megan Iacobini de Fazio, shared a statistic from a 2016 Ministry of Health report that a staggering 70.9% of Italian gynecologists refuse to perform abortions. This is largely due to the strong presence of religion in the country, which traditionally denounces abortion, and the populist coalition government, which includes the right-wing groups League and Five-Star Movement. These factors have posed great challenges to citizens seeking abortion care.

An example of abortion attacks, also shared by Megan Iacobini de Fazio, relates to the past mayor of Verona, Lorenzo Fontana, who was a far-right, Catholic, League member. The author shared that “Fontana vowed to reduce the number of abortions and declared that the state would work harder to dissuade women from going through with the procedure. He is also a member of Comitato No 194, an organization that wants to repeal Law 194 — which legalized abortion 40 years ago — and replace it with a law that would punish women who terminate their pregnancies with up to 12 years in prison.” In reaction to this, a spokeswoman from the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network expressed concern and said that what was happening in Verona painted a picture of the type of ideology the new Italian government promotes.

Another, more recent, example of abortion attacks has occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. According to Human Rights Watch, during this time some facilities reassigned abortion doctors to COVID-19 care or halted abortion services altogether. Additionally, in many areas travel between cities was prohibited. In regular times, people are often forced to travel to various places or facilities to find a doctor to provide care. This was not possible for many during the beginning of the pandemic. Human Rights Watch women’s rights researcher Hillary Margolis in response to this situation stated, “The Covid-19 pandemic only highlights Italy’s labyrinthine system to access abortion and demonstrates how the country’s outdated restrictions cause harm instead of providing protection.” Many pro-choice and women’s rights groups have challenged local governments in response to these difficulties being posed, which has lead to some positive change, but appealing to the larger coalition government proves to be more difficult.

Many human rights councils (International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, European Social Charter, UN Human Rights Committee, European Committee on Social Rights, and The Council of Europe) have spoken about the importance of upholding reproductive rights and have stated that Italy is obligated to uphold these rights and standards. Two major factors, being religious views on abortion and government stances, as previously mentioned, explain why Italy has been lacking in this area. Alessia Donà of the University of Trento studied the “gender dimension of radical right populist parties in Europe, [since] they have risen from marginal to government positions” in “What’s gender got to do with populism.” She observed trends that demonstrated that men tend to vote these parties into power and the people in power in these parties are typically male as well. The form of right-wing populism that holds power in Italy, tends to hold a rather traditional and conservative view on “issues such as divorce, abortion, female employment, childcare.” This often translates to policies that hinder what is best for women. With the example of abortions, in many cases men in power may not understand how vital provision of adequate health services for women are, as they do not experience the same things with their bodies. In many cases, right-wing populism can lead to human rights issues surfacing, and the attacks on reproductive rights in Italy prove this.

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A Media Landscape Brief

A mural in Milan depicts Luigi Di Maio, left, and Matteo Salvini using Facebook on their phones. Illustration: Guardian Design

Observing the media in a country provides an important look into various aspects of the place’s culture. The common forms of media in Italy are television and radio (which have remained popular), print (which is declining), digital (which mainly publishes print in an online form), and social networks (which are increasing in popularity). Beyond the surface, Italy has many unique factors at play with regards to its media. For example, the type of media that is popular differs amongst age groups and regions. Facebook is the most popular social media in the country. Most people revert to television as a source of news, however, young people gravitate towards social media for their news. With using social media as a new source comes the possibility of fake news. Steps taken against spreading fake news began in 2017 and have resulted in bills proposing “fines up to €10,000 and two years’ imprisonment for websites that publish fake news.” This was sparked by blog posts affiliated with the populist group, Five Star Movement, misleading readers. 

In a similar vein, overall trust in the media is low in Italy. This is partially due to the partisan nature of media. Alessandro D’Arma confirms this in Media and Politics in Contemporary Italy: From Berlusconi to Grillo by writing that Italian journalism has always been largely influenced by politics (D’Arma, 2015). Because of this, information is often swayed due to influence from businesses or politicians. According to a 2018 BBC News report on Italian media, “Most newspapers are privately-owned, often linked to a political party or run by a large media group.” One example of this is the ownership of major companies by media mogul and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Within the realm of print media, he owns a publishing company, which mainly publishes books but is also involved in several journals and popular weekly publishings, such as the right-wing leaning weekly Panorama. Additionally, Berlusconi controls much of the TV market, through ownership of Mediaset. According to Reuter’s Institute, “Almost 90% of overall revenues are generated by just three main operators: the pay-TV Sky Italia (33%), the commercial group Mediaset (28%), and the public broadcaster RAI (28%).” Although Berlusconi only owns Mediaset, Rai is known to have been easily politically influenced, so while Berlusconi was prime minister he had much control over information being dispersed both publicly and commercially. Berlusconi’s ability to have control in the media has obviously affected his political appearance (D’arma, 2015). Alessandro D’Arma writes on this by stating, “Berlusconi’s twenty-year-long dominance over Italian politics is first and foremost a striking illustration of the power accruing from control over influential news media. Berlusconi, so the argument goes, has made a recklessly instrumental use of his massive wealth and media assets to further his political ambitions, obtaining visibility and favorable coverage (D’Arma, 2015)”. Berlusconi has already been quite advantaged but has been able to further his populist agenda through utilizing the media. Despite all this, he has been noted to be less popular on social media than other Italian politicians.

Another concern related to threats to the media is the decline in freedom for journalists. While free press is protected by the constitution in Italy, there are many issues with free press and journalistic freedom. Italy is ranked 41st in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. This is an improvement from past years but still very low compared to other European countries. Looking beyond its ranking demonstrates further issues and threats to journalism. Reporters Without Borders also cited examples of journalists being put under police protection after receiving threats of murder or other serious harm from various mafia groups, particularly in Southern Italy. Additionally, Reporters Without Borders shared that “In Rome, reporters were verbally and physically attacked in the course of their work by members of neo-fascist groups and supporters of the Five Star Movement (M5S), which is part of the coalition government. On the whole, Italian politicians are less virulent towards journalists than in the past, but journalism risks being undermined by certain recent government decisions, such as a possible reduction in state subsidies for the media.” This is significant to note in this research because the populist group, Five Star Movement, has caused danger to journalists. 

Additionally, populist leaders who hold political power have spoken out against media and journalism. A 2019 Council of Europe report on journalism in European countries shared that in Italy, “The government’s two deputy prime ministers, Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, regularly express through social media rhetoric particularly hostile to the media and journalists.” An article featured in The Guardian by Ammar Kalia, Caelainn Barr, and Angela Giuffrida explained how these two used social media to rise to popularity, both gaining around 7.8 million likes and shares on Facebook while campaigning. Examples shared of their posts included videos, photos, and live broadcasts speaking out on issues. Now the two are part of a government coalition, run by many populists, and have much political power. Using Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini as examples helps to show that media can propel people’s success and share their message. Even though many of these populist leaders have spoken out against mainstream media they are still able to harness aspects of media to their advantage. These many elements related to various forms of media help to further show the climate in Italy and how it has been affected by populism.

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A Political Landscape Brief

Lower House of Italian Parliament (photo credit: Reuters) from  Italian constitutional reforms: Towards a stable and efficient government

Italy has had a tumultuous political history, from the Roman Empire, to regal periods, to the current wave of populism sweeping the democratic country. As it currently stands, Italy’s government is a Republic but has undergone many periods of change. Italy became a nation-state in 1861 under Victor Emmanuel II, and before unification was an assemblege of kingdoms. The country became a republic in 1946, after the fall of dictator Benito Mussolini, whose fascist rule began in the early 1920s.

Politics in Italy were shaken up in the 1990s when the ‘mani pulite,’ or clean hands, operation worked to expose corruption and wrongdoings going on in the government and business spheres. This initiative lead to investigations into, and consequences for, many people in power. One of these people being the then prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned following investigations of his business and political scandals. Berlusconi was the founder of ‘Forza Italia,’ translating to ‘Forward’ Italy or ‘Go Italy.’ Forza Italia is a political party with conservative roots and populist tendencies. Although Berlusconi resigned, he became prime minister twice more (2001–2006, and 2008–2011) following his scandals. Populist groups were key in Berlusconi’s ability to remain in office. The main groups playing a role during this period of populist leadership were The Northern League, Forza Italia, and People of Freedom (Albertazzi & Mueller, 2013.) 

The Nothern League played a significant role in Berlusconi’s leadership as their values aligned heavily with his political agenda (Albertazzi & Mueller, 2013.) As an example, The Nothern League has major concerns related to immigration, rooted largely in being anti-foreigner. Through actions leading to legislative initiatives, this group has caused discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities in Italy. To further elaborate on this issue, one example of minorities being targeted based on the values of this populist group and Berlusconi was that there were measures put forth to stop the construction of mosques through following strict local guidelines (Albertazzi & Mueller, 2013.) This made being able to practice ones’ religion difficult and quite conditional based on where one lived. This is an example of a human rights-related concern as a result of populist leadership.

Italy is currently undergoing a shift in leadership. The president of Italy is Sergio Mattarella, but the prime minister, Guiseppe Conte, has recently stepped down and Mario Draghi will be stepping up. This poses a problem for populism in Italy, particularly for the Five Star Movement, a populist political party. Author Raffaele Alberto Ventura writes that for some the Five Star Movement “offers the promise of a renewal of the political elite freed from corruption; for others, it is the label which houses a populist, Eurosceptic, anti-rational movement.” In recent years this party held many seats in the government but had issues finding common ground and making headway with their agenda. Mario Draghi makes it more likely that the Five Star Movement will have further difficulties.

Italy has had a variety of human rights issues that align with some populist leaders’ values. Immigration is an area that Italy has faltered in recently. A 2018 Democracy Index report by The Economist noted that the current Italian government has struck down harder on immigration, in an exclusionary way. An example of this is turning away migrant rescue ships. Another display of anti-foreigner behavior from the Italian government has been displayed by the government official, Matteo Salvini. As minister of the interior, Salvini used anti-foreigner rhetoric often and supported evictions of Roma people from their homes while seeking asylum, despite several human rights courts and commissions calling a stop to the evictions. Additionally, the Italian government rejected 14 recommendations from the UN Human Rights Council, which theoretically would have improved conditions in the country. A case study examining how populism affects the functioning of liberal democracy also looked at how Italy threatened human rights. The piece significantly adds that “freedom of speech, mainly due to the prime minister curbing freedom of expression and freedom of information” has become a legislative issue, also sponsored by the Northern League (Albertazzi & Mueller, 2013.). These human rights concerns are relevant in examining populism in Italy. 

Following this political briefing, it is beneficial to compare a definition of populism to manifestations of populism in Italy. An appropriate definition of populism, posed by Mudde and Kaltwasser, states that populism is a “thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic camps, ‘the pure people’ versus ‘the corrupt elite,’ and which argues that politics should be an expression of the volonte generale (general will) of the people” (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017.) There are observable examples of some of these things in Italian politics and culture. The example of the ‘mani pulite’ operation to rid the government of the corrupt elite aligns with this. Additionally, many of the populist political parties take anti-establishment stances to serve the supposed interests of the people. More relevant points within the definition may emerge under further analysis.