TY - JOUR

T1 - Right-wing populist parties as defender of Christianity?

T2 - The case of the Italian Northern League

AU - Schwörer, Jakob

PY - 2018/9/26

Y1 - 2018/9/26

N2 - Right-wing populist parties have recently seen remarkable electoral success in Europe. The exclusion of the political elite and certain ethnic, cultural, or religious groups from the people is described as their core characteristics. Some scholars argue that—within this logic of reasoning—right-wing populist parties increasingly refer to (supposedly) Christian roots and traditions, which are said to be endangered by the immigration of ‘aggressive’ Muslims. Thus, right-wing populists abuse the Christian religion and traditions in order to exclude certain sections of the population from the people or to deny them access to the ‘Christian Occident’. Taking the Italian Northern League as a case study, this paper examines whether and in which context this right-wing populist party refers to Christianity. Based on a content analysis that examines both quality and quantity of Christian-religious references, election programs, articles from the party’s website, and the party’s Twitter account are analysed. In conclusion, it can be stated that the Northern League actually refers to Christian traditions, dignitaries, and followers only in the context of a demarcation rhetoric towards others—especially towards Islam, although these references are used rather rarely. In addition, the Northern League seems to be the only relevant Italian party that uses Christian references at all.

AB - Right-wing populist parties have recently seen remarkable electoral success in Europe. The exclusion of the political elite and certain ethnic, cultural, or religious groups from the people is described as their core characteristics. Some scholars argue that—within this logic of reasoning—right-wing populist parties increasingly refer to (supposedly) Christian roots and traditions, which are said to be endangered by the immigration of ‘aggressive’ Muslims. Thus, right-wing populists abuse the Christian religion and traditions in order to exclude certain sections of the population from the people or to deny them access to the ‘Christian Occident’. Taking the Italian Northern League as a case study, this paper examines whether and in which context this right-wing populist party refers to Christianity. Based on a content analysis that examines both quality and quantity of Christian-religious references, election programs, articles from the party’s website, and the party’s Twitter account are analysed. In conclusion, it can be stated that the Northern League actually refers to Christian traditions, dignitaries, and followers only in the context of a demarcation rhetoric towards others—especially towards Islam, although these references are used rather rarely. In addition, the Northern League seems to be the only relevant Italian party that uses Christian references at all.

KW - Politics

KW - Populism

KW - Religion

KW - Italy

KW - Northern League

KW - Populismus

KW - Religion

KW - Italien

KW - Lega Nord

UR - https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs41682-018-0025-y.pdf

U2 - 10.1007/s41682-018-0025-y

DO - 10.1007/s41682-018-0025-y

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 2

SP - 387

EP - 413

JO - Zeitschrift für Religion, Gesellschaft und Politik

JF - Zeitschrift für Religion, Gesellschaft und Politik

SN - 2510-1218

IS - 2

ER -