From performative anti-fascism to post-fascism
The Lega (Nord)’s political discourse in historical context
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6293078 |
|---|---|
| Authors | George Newth (0000-0002-8978-1194, University of Bath, corresponding author), Marzia Maccaferri (0000-0001-9970-2309, University of London) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 175-199 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Political Ideologies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-9317 • E-ISSN: 1469-9613 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13569317.2022.2138296 |
| OpenAlex | W4309086291 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
This article addresses a significant gap in the literature on the Lega (Nord) by examining the resemiotisation of the party’s early discourse of ‘performative anti-fascism’ under Umberto Bossi into the current ‘post-fascist’ discursive strategy of Matteo Salvini’s Lega. Employing a Discourse Historical Approach (DHA), we perform a two-step analysis. First, through an examination of textual and visual documents produced by and about Umberto Bossi’s party, this article examines the Lega’s process of reconceptualizing and recontextualising anti-fascism; second, through an analysis of Matteo Salvini’s Lega, the article identifies how ‘post-fascism’ has evolved from ‘performative anti-fascism’. The article makes three contributions: first, it encourages a shift away from a focus purely on the Lega’s populism towards articulations of its far right ideology; second, it illustrates the importance of focusing on long-term enactments of discursive shifts and a normalization/mainstreaming of far right ideology; finally, it contributes to a new conceptualization of post-fascism as a discursive feature of far right ideology rather than an ideology in and of itself
Aesthetics · Conceptualization · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Ideology · Linguistics · Performative utterance · Political science · Politics · Populism · Semiotics · Social semiotics · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · Gender Studies · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law · Philosophy
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Post-fascism’, or how the far right talks about itself
| Citations per year | 3.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |