We Are Against Islam

The Lega Nord and the Islamic Folk Devil

Bibliographic Data

ID3579733
AuthorsAlberto Testa (0000-0001-9116-9802, Brunel University of London), G Armstrong (0000-0002-4155-0813, Brunel University of London)
Year2012
Volume2
Issue4
Pages2/4/2158244012467023
Publication date2012-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSAGE Open (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2158244012467023
OpenAlexW2037813523
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited42

Since 1995, the Italian Lega Nord (LN) political party has depicted itself as the defender of Padania, a territory that covers the mainly affluent regions of Northern Italy. Around this politico-spatial territory, the LN has shaped an identity based on the notion of Popolo Padano (the Padanian People). Since the new millennium, LN rhetoric has increasingly focused-stemming more from the demands of realpolitik than those of conviction-on opposing irregular immigration per se and, more specifically, Islam and Muslim immigration. In the eyes of the LN propagandists and their media, the theology of Islam and its practitioners represent a growing threat to the modern Italian and Padanian identity (and tradition). The LN has not been alone in using the media to oppose Islam; the Italian media has reinforced LN messages; Muslims are generally depicted as dangerous and compared with terrorists and their religion and culture are described as the opposite of Italian/West values. Something approximating to a "moral panic" around this issue has ensued. Integral to this are notions of morality combined with practices of moral entrepreneurship. What follows seeks to highlight the LN's stereotypical depictions of Islam. This evaluation is important because the LN was a major player in former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government (2008-2011) and is still a significant party among the Italian political spectrum. Integral to what follows are the following questions: "Is contemporary Islamic immigration a threat to the Italian (and Padanian) way of life?" and "Are the perceived threats to be found in the periodic uncertainties that societies suffer or might we need to search for wider processes

Aesthetics · Conviction · Immigration · Islam · Islamophobia · Moral panic · Morality · Political science · Politics · Realpolitik · Rhetoric · Sociology · Theology · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Law · Philosophy · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Religious studies

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