In late 2012, when the Italian political party, Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia), was founded, few would have bet that in less than a decade, it would lead the polls. Even in her wildest moments of optimism, the party’s charismatic leader, Giorgia Meloni, could hardly have dreamt that her party would one day not only be the first party of the Italian center-Right coalition, but of Italian politics, tout court.
The center-Right coalition is made up of three political parties: the right-wing Lega party, Brothers of Italy, and the center-Right party of the former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, Forza Italia. On the other side, the center-Left coalition is composed of Democratic Party (PD), which is led by Enrico Letta, and Five Star Movement (Movimento Cinque Stelle, M5S), led by Giuseppe Conte.
Brothers of Italy has been described as post- or neo-fascist. The party’s policies are focused on a grand strategy to increase birth rates and protect the traditional family, with generous benefits for both parents and children, alongside investment in social housing. This is different from Lega’s economic policies, which are based on an opportunistic mix of neoliberal and autarchic worldviews.
The epic rise of Brothers of Italy, particularly since 2018, has caught Italy’s entire political establishment off guard. During the 2010s, Italian media was busy looking elsewhere, from the postludes of Berlusconi and the related factions of ‘Berlusconismo’ and ‘anti-Berlusconismo’, to his successor, the technocratic Mario Monti, and on to the quick rise and fall of former prime minister Matteo Renzi, as well as the dynamics that brought the M5S, established by comedian Beppe Grillo, from town squares to Parliament.
It was only recently that Meloni’s party started receiving national and international media attention as a serious contender for victory at the 2023 Italian general election. But with the growing popularity of the party, one question is emerging about its core ideology: the place of fascism within the party.
Fascism simmering beneath
For most populist radical-Right and far-Right parties in Europe, illiberal positions (such as targeting minorities and their rights), anti-egalitarianism, and nativist and authoritarian stances are unfortunately mainstream. But the ideologies and policies inspired by fascism and Nazism are still considered the exclusive domain of the extreme Right.
In Meloni’s recent autobiography, ‘lo sono Giorgia, le mie radici le mie idee’ (I am Giorgia, my roots, my ideas), her party’s relationship with fascism seems to be based on a careful ambiguity. Judgement on historical fascism is avoided, and Meloni never disavows 70 years of neo-fascist heritage in the country.