Populist Radical Right in Europe and Culture Wars: The Case of Fratelli d’Italia

Abstract

Populist radical right politics has a close relationship with culture wars. In addition to being a variable used to explain the rise of populism, culture wars constitute an important component of populist radical right ideology and politics. Populist radical right parties, which do not exclude social policies in economic terms but are based on neoliberalism, political authoritarianism, and cultural conservatism, use the cultural divisions in their societies for their political interests. However, the attitudes of these parties in culture wars cannot be explained only by their power strategies. Because these parties have an ideologically conservative cultural program and wage culture wars against liberal/ left values. As they become an established power in the political system, they become more effective in this field. The Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia, or FdI), which came to power in Italy in 2022, is a notable example in this sense. Its discourses based on the values of "God, Family, and Homeland" have been influential in FdI's march to power and government policies. The example of FdI, which declared that it aims to break the hegemony of liberal/left cultural values in Italy, shows that populists are gaining power in Western Europe in the culture wars.

Keywords

• Fratelli d'Italia
• Culture wars
• Populist radical right
• Italian politics
• Meloni

Avrupa’da Popülist Radikal Sağ ve Kültür Savaşları: İtalya’nn Kardeşleri Partisi Örneği

Abstract

Popülist radikal sağ siyasetin kültür savaşları ile yakın ilişkisi bulunmaktadır. Kültür savaşları popülizmin yükselişini açıklamakta kullanılan bir değişken olmasının yanı sıra, popülist radikal sağ ideoloji ve siyasetin önemli bir bileşenini oluşturmaktadır. Ekonomik açıdan sosyal politikaları dışlamayan ama neoliberalizmi temel alan, siyaseten otoriterlik ve kültürel olarak muhafazakârlık paydalarında buluşan popülist radikal sağ partiler toplumlarında var olan kültürel bölünmeleri siyasal çıkarları için kullanmaktadırlar. Ancak bu partilerin kültür savaşlarındaki tutumları sadece iktidar stratejileriyle açıklanamaz. Çünkü bu partiler ideolojik olarak muhafazakâr kültürel programa sahip ve liberal/sol değerlere karşı kültür savaşları yürüten partilerdir. Siyasal sistemde yerleşik birer güce dönüştükçe bu alanda daha etkili hale gelmektedirler. İtalya’da 2022 yılında iktidara gelen İtalya’nın Kardeşleri Partisi (Fratelli d’Italia – FdI) bu anlamda dikkate değer bir örnektir. “Tanrı, Aile ve Anavatan” değerleri temelindeki söylemleri FdI’nin iktidar yürüyüşünde ve hükümet politikalarında etkili olmuştur. Liberal/sol kültürel değerlerin İtalya’daki hegemonyasını kırmayı amaçladığını ilan eden FdI örneği, popülistlerin kültür savaşlarında Batı Avrupa’da da güç kazanmakta olduğunu göstermektedir.

Keywords

• İtalya’nın Kardeşleri
• Kültür savaşları
• Popülist radikal sağ
• İtalyan siyaseti
• Meloni

Ethical Statement

Bu çalışma 7-8 Ekim 2023 tarihleri arasında Bilkent Üniversitesi’nde gerçekleştirilen Siyasi İlimler Türk Derneği II. Ulusal Siyaset Bilimi Kongresi’nde sunulan bildirinin geliştirilmiş halidir. Öz’ün İngilizce’ye çevirisinde DeepL çeviri uygulaması kullanılmıştır.

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