Mattia Zulianello Writes for Italy’s Domani with Andrea Giovanardi

Josh Allen on 17th December 2020

Logo of the Italian progressive broadsheet Domani established in 2020. The logo is simple black, serified text on a white background. Three red dots rising in size until they align with the final "i" in the name Domani off set the black and white

Populism in Action’s Italy focused Research Fellow has published his latest op-ed for the discussion focused Italian newspaper Domani. Written with the academic tax lawyer Andrea Giovanardi, Mattia describes the article as arguing:

that the proposal to provide regional autonomy to the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto is often attacked on a priori basis. Instead, we maintain that enhanced regional self-government can be the only solution to achieve two key goals: first, making local territories accountable; second, tackle the profound public finance crisis in Italy.

A copy of the article (in Italian) can be read here.

Populism in Action’s Daniele Albertazzi Quoted in Belgium’s Knack Magazine

Josh Allen on 15th December 2020

Logo of Knack magazine. A Belgian current affairs magazine. It consists of the publication's name in a bold blocky typeface, with square edges to the letters and written in a bold red colour

Populism in Action’s Daniele Albertazzi was quoted in Knack, a major current affairs weekly published in Belgium’s Flanders region. His comments appear in a substantial feature article published online on 8th December 2020, which explores the shifting contours of right-wing politics in Europe.

Key insights shared with the magazine include reflections on recent developments in Italy, with Dr. Albertazzi saying:

To everyone’s surprise, the Five Star Movement formed a new government with the center-left Partito Democratico (PD). Salvini has disregarded the main rule of Italian politics….  which states: “anything is possible”. At the beginning of this year, he also lost the regional elections in Emilia-Romagna, after shouting from the rooftops for months that he would oust the PD from power. He has lost his aura of invincibility, and he owes that entirely to himself.

The full (Dutch language) article can be read here (paywalled)

 

 

PiAP Team Media Work Round-Up of 2020

Josh Allen on 9th December 2020

A group of informally dressed middle aged white people are working in an office. It is high up in a roof space and illuminated y skylights. The office is sparsely furnished, although the central desk wwhere many of the workers sit or stand around flatscreened computer monitors is quite crowded with papers and units like intrays and filining systems where paper is stored. It is the office of a local newspaper in Poland

Engaging in dialogue, informing debate and sparking conversations about the phenomenon of contemporary populist radical right party politics beyond academia is an integral and a critical part of the work that the Populism in Action Project (PiAP) does. One of the main ways in which the research team does this, is by writing and producing content for general audiences, and through speaking with and assisting the work of communications professionals, such as journalists. Over the last year or so the project’s staff have between them racked up over 100 such appearances, whether as authors, contributors or expert advisors.

This has included apperances in broadcast, print and digital media outlets based in the UK, USA, Netherlands, Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Ireland and publications whose audience is Europe as a whole, rather than the population of a specific geographical entity. Titles which have featured comment from PiAP’s researchers range from major outlets like The Financial Times, New York Times and the BBC to local newspapers which have run in-depth interviews with Research Fellows about the purpose of their fieldwork.

For some of the highlights from the project team’s media work in 2020 see below:

Particular highlights for individual team members include:

  • Daniele Albertazzi – PiAP’s Principal Investigator (project lead) – has contributed extensive insight to the Financial Times’ reporting on populist radical right party politics, and populist politics (especially in Italy), more generally this year. In addition to this his analysis has appeared in many other news reports, including in the Wall Street Journal, as well as in a major feature on contemporary populism and COVID-19 in Spain’s El Confidencial.
  • PiAP’s Co-Investigator Stijn van Kessel has also appeared in the highly regarded business press, with his thoughts and analysis featuring at length in a news feature published in The Netherlands’ Het Financieele Dagblad.
  • Following a highly successful first outing in the paper at the start of October 2020, Italy focused Research Fellow Mattia Zulianello is now a frequent columnist for Domani a new Italian “quality” newspaper focused upon longform journalism and expert analysis.
  • Niko Hatakka, PiAP’s Finland focused Research Fellow, has made numerous contributions to the country’s public discussion around both the phenomenon of contemporary right-wing populism, and questions around how political groups utilise and relate to new media and the communities that form on online platforms. Here he provided analysis for an article published on yle.fi.
  • Belgium (Flanders) focused Research Fellow Judith Sijstermans was invited by the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Constitutional Change to produce an in-depth portrait and analysis of Vlaams Belang, the party that she is studying.
  • In addition to his work on the project, Switzerland focused Research Fellow Adrian Favero has been appointed by the journal Government & Opposition as their Mick Moran Fellow to support their engagement work and find “…new ways to curate and promote the scholarship [Government & Opposition] publish both to ensure past insights do not get lost in the current political turmoil and to encourage innovative lines of inquiry and research.

In the wider world, PiAP Co-Investigator Scott Lucas of EA Worldview has provided relentless commentary and analysis of developments in the USA in the lead up towards, and the aftermath of, the 2020 Presidential Election:

Round Up of 2020

Josh Allen on 2nd December 2020

Image is of a park in Bratislava capital of Slovakia. It is a cold but sunny spring day. Four white women are pictured walking along paths crossing the park which is lightly wooded and grassed. Its near a lake an there is a small nuber of geese on one of the paths. A large green wheelie bin sits in the middle of the image. All of the women, who are different ages, are walking separately and not connected with each other. They're wearing facemasks in compliance with Covid-19 public health restrictions

It goes without saying that nobody could have predicted how 2020 eventually unfolded. It has been a tough year in all manner of ways for people right across the world, and for us in the Populism in Action team it forced a rethink of several aspects of our plans for the project. However, in the face of the adversity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic we have adapted our ways of working so as to continue studying and explaining how and why populist radical right parties in Western Europe invest a lot of time, effort and resources into building mass membership and supporter organisations. Along the way we have produced analysis across both print and video explaining what we have found out, and the bearing that it has upon current affairs, in a succinct and accessible way. Now as we approach the end of 2020 and the rest of the decade stretches tentatively ahead of us we are delighted to share a selection of these with you.

Enjoy having a look back at what we have done to disseminate some of our findings this year – we wish you good health and comfort over the festive period and throughout 2021.

January – March

The first few months of 2020 – much like the last quarter of 2019 – saw our research team using their expertise and knowledge to produce incisive analysis of European current affairs.

Where Luigi Di Maio and Italy’s Five Star Movement Went Wrong – by Mattia Zulianello

 

Italy’s Government Still On A Knife Edge After Key Regional Elections – by Daniele Albertazzi and Davide Pellegrino

 

The Swiss People’s Party Looks for a New Leader – by Adrian Favero

Why Europe’s Populist Radical Right Parties Are Not Eager to Leave the EU – by Stijn van Kessel

 

March – June

When Covid-19 first began shutting down countries, our research team produced a series of analyses looking at how the Flemish, Swiss, Italian and Finnish populist radical right parties under study reacted to the public health emergency:

June – September

As life across Europe settled into a tentative wait for effective treatments and successful vaccines, our research team turned its attention to exploring some of the long-term trends that our research is examining.

A Starter Library on Populism – by Adrian Favero, Niko Hatakka, Judith Sijstermans, Mattia Zulianello

 

A “Great Identity Crisis” Complicates Belgium’s Colonial and Racial Reckoning – by Judith Sijstermans

 

Right-Wing Populism Across Europe – PiAP’s First Video Series

-This series of short films consists of in-depth discussions between members of the project team. Our researchers focus on key issues around the political parties we are studying, by looking at their communication strategies, membership organisation, strategic approaches and political objectives.

September – December

Despite the continued wait for effective public health measures and treatments to end the pandemic the latter part of the year saw the Populism in Action team engaged in a number of significant initiatives aimed at disseminating the projects’ research findings.

PiAP-Clinton Institute Webinar: Comparing Populisms – Daniele Albertazzi and Stijn van Kessel

 

Populism in Europe and the USA – Webinar Recording – Daniele Albertazzi and Scott Lucas

 

Populism and Sub-State Nationalism Intersect in Belgium’s Flanders – Judith Sijstermans

 

Launch of the new Populism in Action Project website

 

Thank you for following our research and engaging with us this year. Its been quite a ride but we look forward to sharing and discussing more of our findings with you in 2021. Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous festive period and an excellent year to come – onwards and upwards.