Benito Giordano

Italian regionalism or ‘Padanian’ nationalism — the political project of the Lega Nord in Italian politics

Abstract The resurgence of regionalist political parties has had a considerable, though variable, impact on contemporary European politics in recent decades and there are numerous examples of such parties across Europe. In Italy, there are several regionalist parties, however, it is the emergence in the last 15 years or so, of the Northern League (Lega Nord) (LN) political party, in the North of Italy, which has given a new impetus to debates about the significance of regionalism in Italy as well as across Europe. This paper discusses the different approaches to defining regionalism as well as the common features and driving forces of contemporary political regionalist projects. It then focuses upon the political discourses of the LN in order to discuss the ways in which the party resembles other regionalist projects, while having certain key, distinct and rather unique differences. This is because the LNs political project is not based in an area that has historic claims to nationhood. Instead, the LN has attempted to invent an ethnicity for the North of Italy (or ‘Padania’) in order to justify its political claims for the protection of the economic interests of the region. ‘Padania’ (which is the Latin term which refers to the basin of the River Po), has never ‘existed’ as an administrative or political unit but the LN has attempted to construct (and invent) a geography and a history in order to justify its territorial and political claims.

Conceptualising and Measuring Urban Competitiveness in Major English Cities: An Exploratory Approach

Recent years have witnessed considerable academic debate with regard to the ways in which urban competitiveness can best be conceptualised and measured. In this paper we draw on these theoretical discussions in an attempt to interrogate the dynamics of competitiveness. We report on research to develop indicators to explore the relationship between sources (the initial stock of assets in a city) and outcomes of competitiveness (the result of attempts to exploit these assets by firms) across a sample of urban areas. We argue that urban asset bases provide a strong predictor of competitive performance in English cities, but that this general pattern is interrupted by some cities for which competitive outcomes are stronger or weaker than might be expected in light of underlying asset bases. The study findings provide some tentative methodological suggestions, augmenting the limited volume of empirically focused work regarding the means by which different aspects of the contested concept of competitiveness might best be measured. The findings also illustrate the differing competitive fortunes of major English cities and provide pointers with regard to priorities for policymakers in moulding and managing urban asset bases.

Regions, City-Regions, Identity and Institution Building: Contemporary Experiences of the Scalar Turn in Italy and England

ABSTRACT: In recent years, extensive academic effort has been devoted to interpreting the scalar turn in political and economic geography. This has involved considerable emphasis on the interrelationships across institutions at different spatial scales, stemming from the globalization of economic activity and associated regulatory structures, and the related rescaling of state economic functions to a variety of sub-national institutional entities. This article attempts to augment this work by addressing recognized uncertainties about the dynamics of this process of rescaling, manifested through conflict over the precise configuration of sub-national scalar boundaries. Through a comparison of recent experiences of regionalism in Italy and England, it considers the tensions implicit in the new regionalist territorial settlement, focusing on conflicts that have crystallized around contrasting efforts discursively to construct regional and city-regional identities. In conclusion, the article revisits the validity and utility of contested conceptualizations of resurgent (city) regionalism and considers the possible trajectory of future change.

Catalonia and the ‘Idea of Europe’ Competing Strategies and Discourses within Catalan Party Politics

This paper focuses upon the region (nation) of Catalonia, Spain and in particular upon the ways in which Catalan political parties have ‘Europeanized’ their discourse, viewing Europe both as an alternative institutional channel to promote their objectives and as an example to follow of socioeconomic and political modernization. After reviewing some of the reasons that account for the increased importance of subnationalism in the EU, the paper considers the contours of the Catalan political system. Following this there is a detailed discussion of the ways in which the main political parties in Catalonia employ the issue of European integration in their political rhetoric. By way of conclusion, the paper considers the differing reasons behind each of the parties’ position on Catalonia’s role within the process of European integration.

‘Té Para Todos’? A Comparison of the Processes of Devolution in Spain and the UK

This paper focuses upon a comparison of the experiences of regionalisation in Spain and the United Kingdom. Spains process of devolution, initiated in the late 1980s, has led to an asymmetrical structure of devolution with certain regions, such as Catalonia and the Basque Country, acquiring more autonomy than others. However, the slogan ‘café para todos’ (coffee for everyone) has in recent years been employed by Catalan and other nationalists to argue that the State of Autonomies has not respected the special status of Spains historic communities and has diluted their claims for greater levels of self-government. It is precisely such a model of asymmetrical autonomy that has been adopted in the United Kingdom since 1997, the implications of which remain to be seen. As this paper explores, however, there are already signs emerging that the United Kingdom is following a similar trajectory to that in Spain, which is why the comparisons are particularly important and timely. Indeed, the authors argue that adopting a model of asymmetrical autonomy can lead, even at an early stage, to the emergence of regional identities in regions with no previous manifestations of regional consciousness, the rise in territorial tension after devolution, and the backlash by the historic regions against a ‘one size fits all’ or uniform approach towards devolution.

Whiteness, multiculturalism and nationalist appropriation of Celtic culture: the case of the League of the South and the Lega Nord

The League of the South (USA) and Lega Nord (Italy), formed in 1994 and 1991 respectively, are nationalist organizations that have utilized claims to Celtic ethnicity to further their appeal. In this article we explore these claims, made in relation to the southern United States and northern Italy, and argue that they are used by these organizations to justify exclusionary politics. By claiming a privileged status for Celtic culture, heritage and genealogy, the League of the South and Lega Nord envision their putative nation-states as accommodating other ethnic groups in subordinate roles. We argue that claiming Celtic ethnicity is an implicit appeal to white privilege. In the proposed nation-states of the Confederate States of America and Padania, white authority would be sustained. Further, the way these groups use Celticness allows them to make links to specific historical and material geographies. Claiming Celtic origins enables northern Italians to distinguish themselves from southern Italians, and to make an associated historical-geographical connection between themselves and northern Europe, enabling disassociation from the Mediterranean. The League of the South claim to ‘Anglo-Celtic’ ethnicity enables their membership to distinguish themselves from other residents of the United States, be these non-white residents of the southern states or other white people within the USA. Finally, we suggest that some dominant political commitments to multiculturalism facilitate precisely such claims to Celtic origins, however tenuous, to be made in the name of recognizing and protecting cultural difference.

A Place Called Padania? The Lega Nord and the Political Representation of Northern Italy

In the 1990s, the debates about the resurgence of political regionalism in Europe have become particularly prevalent. One reason for this has been the fact that, in several European countries, regionalist political parties have made significant electoral gains in recent years. This paper focuses upon Italy, which is one of the countries in which there has been a significant resurgence of regionalism over the last ten years or so. Political regionalism is not a new phenomenon in Italy and there have been a number of examples of regionalist political parties during the history of the Italian Republic. However, it is the rise to political prominence of the Northern League (Lega Nord) (LN) political party in Italian politics which has brought to the fore questions about Italian national unity and identity. The party has articulated a new and politically more contentious ‘Northern question’, which is superimposed upon the longstanding ‘Southern question’ in Italy. The fundamental political aim of the LN is the protection of Northern Italian economic and cultural interests and in order to do this the party proposed the creation of a federal Italian state, which would give greater autonomy to the North of Italy. More recently, however, the party has rejected its federalist rhetoric in favour of the hard-line discourse of secession of a place it calls ‘Padania’ (which roughly corresponds to Northern and Central Italy). The party claims to represent the whole of the ‘Padanian nation’, but the geography of the party’s support is not uniform across the whole of the territory. This paper explores the ways in which the LN has communicated its main political discourses and then considers the reasons why these discourses have generated differing levels of support in three contrasting geographical contexts across Northern and Central Italy.

The Continuing Transformation of Italian Politics and the Contradictory Fortunes of the Lega Nord

There has been considerable academic debate about the transition in Italian politics, which began in the early 1990s and has continued ever since. The most significant recent milestone in this transition has been the May 2001 general election and this article focuses upon one important outcome of the election - the sharp electoral decline of the Northern League. The League has been one of the principal forces of change in Italian politics, so its decline needs to be fully understood. Even though its support has declined considerably, the League is part of Berlusconis government and therefore, somewhat paradoxically, it remains a potentially important force, raising questions about the direction in which the Italian transition is heading.

‘Institutional thickness’, political sub-culture and the resurgence of (the ‘new’) regionalism in Italy – a case study of the Northern League in the province of Varese

In recent years, the ‘regional scale’ within the European Union (EU) has become more central within academic and policy debates. In particular, there has been an increased focus upon the importance of so-called ‘institutional thickness’ for regional development within the EU. Furthermore, the fact that in several European countries, regionalist political parties have made significant electoral gains has ensured that the ‘regional question’ in Europe has become even more prevalent. This paper explores the linkages between institutions and regionalist political parties by focusing upon the situation in Italy where the resurgence of political regionalism, centred on the Lega Nord (LN) or Northern League political party, has been particularly strong. In particular, the paper focuses upon the development of the LN in a particular province of Northern Italy, Varese. This section explores the ways in which the LN has developed institutionally and electorally and indeed whether the party has been able to develop a specific political sub-culture to replace the previous one associated with the Christian Democrat (DC) party, which was the main party in Varese before the landmark changes that took place in Italian politics in the early 1990s.

The contrasting geographies of ‘Padania’: the case of the Lega Nord in Northern Italy

The Lega Nord (Northern League) regionalist party, which has risen to prominence in Italy in recent years, has a specific geographical focus to its political project. This is premised essentially upon the protection of Northern Italian economic (and cultural) interests, however, this geographical focus has been modified during the Lega Nord’s relatively short political history. This paper explores the reasons why there have been various shifts in geographical emphasis in the party’s political rhetoric as well as the ways in which support for the Lega Nord has changed (or not) as a result of these changes. Interestingly, the latest shift in the Lega Nord’s rhetoric has seen the party attempting to construct (and invent) a geography and an ethnicity for a place it calls ‘Padania’ (which roughly corresponds to North and Central Italy) that has never existed administratively or historically. However, as the paper argues, the Lega Nord’s attempts to create a ‘Padanian’ political identity, have not been matched by any significant changes in its electoral geography.