David Broder, "Mussolini's Grandchildren: Fascism in Contemporary Italy" (Pluto Press, 2023)

Aug 20, 2023

David Broder discusses his book 'Mussolini's Grandchildren' and the rise of Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia, a party with a direct genealogy from Mussolini's regime. They explore the reinventions of far-right politics in Italy, the interplay between a parliamentary face and militant fringe groups, and Fratelli d'Italia's strategy of embracing harsh Islamophobia while supporting the European Union and NATO. The podcast also discusses the distortion of World War II history, the manipulation of Italian history to portray Italians as victims, and the increasing influence of far-right ideologies in Italy.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

The Genealogy of the Far Right in Italy

02:09 • 13min

The Historical Significance of Trieste and Its Connection to Italian Nationalism

15:12 • 3min

Fratelli Ditalia's Distorted View of Italian Victims in World War II

18:06 • 3min

Shaping the Narrative of Italian History: Victims Caught Between Totalitarianisms

21:10 • 5min

The Creation of the MSI

25:41 • 24min

Rhetoric and Communication Strategy in Italian Politics

49:19 • 4min

The Rise of the Far-Right in Italy

53:07 • 20min

The fastest-rising force in Italian politics is Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia - a party with a direct genealogy from Mussolini's regime. Surging to prominence in recent years, it has waged a fierce culture war against the Left, polarised political debate around World War II, and even secured the largest vote share in Italy's 2022 general election. Eighty years after the fall of Mussolini, his heirs, and admirers are again on the brink of taking power. So how exactly has this situation come about?

Mussolini's Grandchildren: Fascism in Contemporary Italy (Pluto Press, 2023) delves into Italy's self-styled 'post-fascist' movements - rooted in historical fascism yet claiming to have 'transcended' it. David Broder highlights the reinventions of far-right politics since the Second World War and examines the interplay between a parliamentary face aimed at integrating fascists into the mainstream and militant fringe groups which, despite their extremism, play an important role in nurturing the broader far right.

Fratelli d'Italia has retained its hegemony over fascist subcultures whilst embracing a raft of more pragmatic policy positions, fusing harsh Islamophobia and anti-communism with support for the European Union and NATO. As countervailing anti-fascist forces in Italian society wane, the far-right party's mission to redeem historical fascism, legitimize its political heirs, and shift the terrain of mainstream politics is proving alarmingly successful.

David Broder is a historian of the Italian far-right. He is a regular contributor to the New Statesman and Internazionale, writing about Italian politics, as well as Europe editor for Jacobin. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, the Independent, New Left Review and Tribune. He is the author of The Rebirth of Italian Communism: Dissident Communists in Rome, 1943-44 and First They Took Rome: How the Populist Right Conquered Italy.

Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel.

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