Mainstreaming populist discourse: The race-conscious legacy of neo-populist parties in Australia and Italy

Patterns of Prejudice

Volumn 38, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 37-55

  Curran, Giorel ^a  

^a GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Asylum policy; Australia; Far right; Immigration policy; Italy; Lega Nord; Neo populism; One Nation; Pauline Hanson; Populism; Refugees; Umberto Bossi

Indexed keywords

EID: 1542344458     PISSN: 0031322X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0031322032000185578     Document Type: Review

References (73)

1. See especially Hans-Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall (eds), The New Politics of the Right: Neo-Populist Parties in Established Democracies (New York: St Martins Press 1998), and Herbert P. Kitshelt in collaboration with Anthony J. McGann, The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press 1995).
2. See especially Hans-Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall (eds), The New Politics of the Right: Neo-Populist Parties in Established Democracies (New York: St Martins Press 1998), and Herbert P. Kitshelt in collaboration with Anthony J. McGann, The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press 1995).
3. See, for example, Ludger Helm, 'Right-wing populist parties in Austria and Switzerland: a comparative analysis of electoral support and conditions of success', West European Politics, vol. 20, no. 2, 1997, 37-53; Paul Taggart, 'New populist parties in Western Europe', West European Politics, vol. 18, no. 1, 1995, 34-52; and Giorel Curran, Robyn Hollander and Elizabeth van Acker, 'Xenophobia: Is it enough? Far right populist parties in Australia and Europe', paper presented at the Australasian Political Science Association Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, September 2002.
4. See, for example, Ludger Helm, 'Right-wing populist parties in Austria and Switzerland: a comparative analysis of electoral support and conditions of success', West European Politics, vol. 20, no. 2, 1997, 37-53; Paul Taggart, 'New populist parties in Western Europe', West European Politics, vol. 18, no. 1, 1995, 34-52; and Giorel Curran, Robyn Hollander and Elizabeth van Acker, 'Xenophobia: Is it enough? Far right populist parties in Australia and Europe', paper presented at the Australasian Political Science Association Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, September 2002.
5. See, for example, Ludger Helm, 'Right-wing populist parties in Austria and Switzerland: a comparative analysis of electoral support and conditions of success', West European Politics, vol. 20, no. 2, 1997, 37-53; Paul Taggart, 'New populist parties in Western Europe', West European Politics, vol. 18, no. 1, 1995, 34-52; and Giorel Curran, Robyn Hollander and Elizabeth van Acker, 'Xenophobia: Is it enough? Far right populist parties in Australia and Europe', paper presented at the Australasian Political Science Association Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, September 2002.
6. Marco Tarchi, 'Populism Italian style', in Yves Mény and Yves Surel (eds), Democracies and the Populist Challenge (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2002), 137.
7. 'Demise' is a problematic term with regard to the Lega Nord. While its electoral support has declined significantly from the high point of 10.1 per cent in 1996 to 3.9 per cent in the May 2001 national election, it still retains considerable power as a member of Berlusconi's ruling coalition in control of some key ministries, as will be discussed below. See Gianfranco Pasquino, 'The Italian national elections of 13 May 2001', Journal of Modern Italian Studies, vol. 6, no. 3, 2001, 371-87.
8. Tarchi.
9. While Italy's Alleanza Nazionale (National Alliance) is a formidable far-right party and, currently, a key coalition partner in Berlusconi's government, and while it also embraces its own style of anti-immigrant politics, its ideological roots in Fascism (or 'post-Fascism') sets it outside the parameters of populism, even if it is important to acknowledge its contemporary incorporation of populist tendencies.
10. Quoted in Carol Johnson, 'Pauline Hanson and One Nation', in Betz and Immerfall (eds), 213-14.
11. Ibid., 214.
12. Pauline Hanson's maiden speech, available at www.onenation.com.au (viewed 2 December 2003).
13. Murray Goot and Ian Watson, 'Where does it come from, what makes it different and how does it fit?', Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 47, no. 2, 2001, 159-91 (163-4).
14. George Megalogenis, 'The million voters who matter', Weekend Australian, 21-2 December 2002, 17.
15. Roger Eatwell, 'The dynamics of right-wing electoral breakthrough', Patterns of Prejudice, vol. 32, no. 3, 3-31; Kitshelt.
16. Goot and Watson, 161-2.
17. See Amanda Hodge and Greg Roberts, 'One Nation grabs poll position again', The Australian, 26 August 2003, 4.
18. Rachel Gibson, Ian McAllister and Tami Swenson, 'The politics of race and immigration in Australia: One Nation voting in the 1998 election', Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 25, no. 5, September 2002, 823-44.
19. Megalogenis, 'The million voters who matter', 17.
20. Gibson, McAllister and Swenson, 832.
21. Megalogenis, 'The million voters who matter'.
22. David Nason, 'Liberals come to senses and take right track', Weekend Australian, 21-2 December 2002, 20.
23. Clive Bean, 'Nationwide electoral support for One Nation in the 1998 federal election', and Paul Reynolds, 'One Nation's electoral support in Queensland: the 1998 state and federal elections compared', both in Michael Leach, Geoffrey Stokes and Ian Ward (eds), The Rise and Fall of One Nation (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press 2000).
24. Clive Bean, 'Nationwide electoral support for One Nation in the 1998 federal election', and Paul Reynolds, 'One Nation's electoral support in Queensland: the 1998 state and federal elections compared', both in Michael Leach, Geoffrey Stokes and Ian Ward (eds), The Rise and Fall of One Nation (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press 2000).
25. Reynolds.
26. Megalogenis, 'The million voters who matter', 20.
27. For Hanson's statement, see note 9 above; Howard's statement was repeated throughout the 2001 election campaign, and regularly reported in various Australian newspapers. See, for example, Dennis Atkins, 'Finding the lowest common denominator', Courier Mail, 29 October 2001.
28. Patrick Weller, Don't Tell the Prime Minister (Carlton, Victoria: Scribe Publications 2002), 8.
29. Marian Wilkinson and David Marr, 'Orders from the top', Good Weekend: The Age Magazine, 8 March 2003, 18-25 (22).
30. I b i d.
31. For a summary, see Weller; Wilkinson and Marr; and David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, Dark Victory: The Military Campaign to Re-elect the Prime Minister (Sydney: Allen and Unwin 2003).
32. Weller, 4.
33. Ibid., 3, 38ff.
34. Gibson, McAllister and Swenson, 823-4.
35. Ibid., 837.
36. Ibid., 838.
37. I b i d.
38. Bean; Reynolds; and George Megalogenis, 'Win the centre, lose the race', The Australian, 23 December 2002, 13.
39. Gibson, McAllister and Swenson, 826-7.
40. Sasha Polakow-Suransky and Giuliana Chamedes, 'Europe's new crusade', American Prospect, vol. 13, no. 15, 26 August 2002, 33.
41. Francesco Cavatorta, 'The role of the Northern League in transforming the Italian political system: from economic federalism to ethnic politics and back', Contemporary Politics, vol. 7, no. 1, March 2001, 27-40 (28).
42. Edmondo Berselli, 'The crisis and transformation of Italian politics', Daedalus, vol. 130, no. 3, 2001, 1-24 (6).
43. Cavatorta, 30.
44. Jeffrey Cole, The New Racism in Europe: A Sicilian Ethnography (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1997), 129.
45. Hans-Georg Setz, 'Against Rome: the Lega Nord', in Betz and Immersfall (eds).
46. Berselli, 14.
47. Betz, 'Against Rome', 49.
48. See Frank Bruni, 'Wave of immigrants breaks against Italian island's shore', New York Times, 11 July 2003.
49. Benito Giordano, 'The continuing transformation of Italian politics and the contradictory fortunes of the Lega Nord', Journal of Modern Italian Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2003, 216-30 (222). See also Benito Giordano, 'The contrasting geographies of "Padania": the case of the Lega Nord in Northern Italy', Area, vol. 33, no. 1, March 2001, 27-37.
50. Benito Giordano, 'The continuing transformation of Italian politics and the contradictory fortunes of the Lega Nord', Journal of Modern Italian Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2003, 216-30 (222). See also Benito Giordano, 'The contrasting geographies of "Padania": the case of the Lega Nord in Northern Italy', Area, vol. 33, no. 1, March 2001, 27-37.
51. Giordano, 'The continuing transformation of Italian politics', 222.
52. Tarchi.
53. Ibid., 132.
54. I b i d.
55. Ibid., 136.
56. Paul Ginsborg, 'The patrimonial ambitions of Silvio B', New Left Review, vol. 21, May-June 2003, 21-64 (42-3).
57. Ibid., 43.
58. Ibid., 57.
59. Nicole Martiche, 'Italy: amnesty expected to bring half-million illegals into open', Agence France-Presse, 14 November 2002; and Polakow-Soransky and Chamedes, 33.
60. John Tagliabue, 'Italy says it can destroy illegal-immigrants ships', New York Times, 29 March 2002, 16.
61. '900 migrants on cargo ship land in Sicily', National Post (Canada), 19 March 2002.
62. Martiche.
63. Giuseppe Sciortino, 'Planning in the dark: the evolution of Italian immigration control', in Grete Brochmann and Tomas Hammar (eds), Mechanisms of Immigration Control: A Comparative Analysis of European Regulation Policies (Oxford: Berg 1999), 233-96 (248).
64. Tagliabue.
65. Sciortino, 234.
66. Ibid., 245-6.
67. See Pasquino.
68. Giordano, 'The continuing transformation of Italian politics', 219, 227.
69. Roger Eatwell, 'The rebirth of the "extreme right" in Western Europe?', Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 53, 2000, 407-25 (411).
70. Ibid., 422.
71. Greg Sheridan, 'The stain of shame spreads', The Australian, 8 November 2001.
72. I b i d.
73. Tarchi, 137.