The Lega Nord and the Northern Question in

Since the late 1980s, the Lega Nord has broken the mold of Italian politics. Federalist, secessionist, populist, it has succeeded in mobilizing the entrepreneurial class of Northern Italy in a campaign against the Italian state. In 1996, it launched the idea of Panadia, a separate Northern Italian nation. This proved to be a step too far, but the Lega remains a political force to be reckoned with, and has propelled "the Northern question" on to the national stage.

Anna Cento Bull is Professor of Italian Studies, and Mark Gilbert is Lecturer in Italian Politics, both at the University of Bath.

List of Tables

vii

Preface

viii

Introduction

1

(8)

The Lega Nord and the Crisis of the Italian State

9

(33)

Introduction

9

(2)

II Senatur

11

(2)

Roma Iadrona (`Thieving Rome')

13

(9)

The Republic of the North

22

(4)

The Italian revolution

26

(5)

Party of government

31

(7)

Conclusions

38

(4)

Interpretations of the Lega Nord

42

(25)

Introduction

42

(1)

A protest against Rome?

43

(2)

The Lega as a populist party

45

(6)

The Lega as a subcultural party

51

(5)

The Lega as an ethno-regionalist party

56

(3)

The Lega as a political entrepreneur

59

(4)

Conclusions

63

(4)

The Electorate of the Lega Nord: a Socio-economic and Territorial Constituency

67

(38)

Introduction

67

(2)

The electorate of the Lega Nord

69

(4)

Small-scale industrialization and the rise of the Lega Nord in the manufacturing areas of Lombardy

73

(6)

Small-scale industralization and territorially-based political subcultures

79

(3)

Facing new challenges: Italy's industrial districts and political institutions in the 1980s and 1990s

82

(8)

The Lega Nord, small business and regionalism

90

(3)

The Lega Nord as a political subculture

93

(5)

Recent developments

98

(4)

Conclusions

102

(3)

Padania and After

105

(34)

Introduction

105

(1)

The making of Padania

106

(6)

The theory and practice of Pandanian nationalism

112

(9)

The sectarianism of the Lega

121

(3)

A far-right party

124

(11)

Conclusions

135

(4)

Globalization, Italian Politics and the `Northern Question'

139

(34)

Introduction

139

(1)

The process of economic globalization and its effects on politics

140

(3)

The politics of secession as a response to globalization

143

(5)

Competing responses to globalization: state and markets

148

(4)

Old and innovative solutions to new challenges

152

(8)

Competing responses to globalization: state and regions

160

(5)

The Northern Question and the growing territorial gap in Italian politics

165

(4)

Conclusions

169

(4)

Conclusions

173

(11)

Postscript on the 2001 General Elections

184

(4)

The Lega's Caporetto?

184

(4)

References

188

(11)

Index

199

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The Lega Nord and the Northern Question in Italian Politics

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials