Today’s European context is characterised by growing nationalism, racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia. These manifestations are de facto supported by mainstream parties such as the German CDU-CSU, the British Conservative Party, the French UMP and also Socialist Party (by way of example, we can quote the declarations of current Prime Minister Manuel Valls on the Roma people). However, they are more openly promoted by different parties and movements that are generally defined as right-wing populists. The term “populist” has in fact progressively replaced “fascist” to define far or radical right-wing movements and parties such as, for example, the Front National in France, expressing the “more covert” forms of racism, which can be broadly defined as “cultural racism”. Fascism—or, more precisely neo-fascism—has not disappeared in the meantime: having over the years readapted its ideology and its symbols, it is still a minoritarian component in the European political arena. This paper considers the differences and similarities between neo-fascism and right-wing “populist” movements, focusing on the Italian case, which can be instructive due to the old tradition of fascism and neo-fascism, dating back to the forties (the years immediately following World War II), and the presence of a right-wing populist force, the Northern League, whose anti-immigration message (more recently combined with strong anti-euro and anti-EU positions) is at the core of its programme.
