Right-Wing Populism and Political Instrumentalization of Religion
The Italian Debate on Matteo Salvini’s Use of Religious Symbols on Facebook
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeSearch for other papers by Rita Marchetti in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Nicola Righetti in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Susanna Pagiotti in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Anna Stanziano in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
The study investigates the online debate sparked by the political instrumentalization of religious symbols by right-wing populist leaders, taking as a case study the campaign communication of Matteo Salvini—leader of the Italian “Lega” party—in the run-up to the 2018 and 2019 general and European elections. Against the backdrop of theories on populism, religious publicization and politicization in a social media context, the research analyzes over 2,000 Facebook posts referring to Salvini and religion by using a mixed computational and qualitative method including semi-automated frame analysis and correspondence analysis. Results show that right-wing populism is capable of successfully appropriating religious symbols and setting the agenda for religious topics on social media, even challenging the authority of traditional religious authorities on their own ground. By attacking the Church, defending the religious sentiment of the people, and opposing Christian identity to Islam, religion is effectively integrated into the populist worldview.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Abdel-Fadil, Mona, “Identity Politics in a Mediatized Religious Environment on Facebook: Yes to Wearing the Cross Whenever and Wherever I Choose,” Journal of Religion in Europe 10/4 (2017), 457–486.
-
Aguilar, Gabrielle K., Heidi Campbell, Mariah Stanley, & Ellen Taylor, “Communicating Mixed Messages about Religion through Internet Memes,” Information, Communication & Society 20/10 (2017), 1498–1520.
-
Arato, Andrew, & Jean L. Cohen, “Civil Society, Populism, and Religion,” in: Carlos de la Torre (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Global Populism (London: Routledge, 2018), 112–126.
-
Arzheimer, Kai, “The AfD: Finally, a Successful Right-wing Populist Eurosceptic Party for Germany?,” West European Politics 38/3 (2015), 535–556.
-
Barisione, Mauro, “Caso Alitalia. I frame del Tg1 e del Tg5 nella campagna elettorale,” Comunicazione Politica 2 (2008), 199–205.
-
Bellah, Robert N., “Civil Religion in America,” Daedalus 96/1 (1967), 1–21.
-
Bennett, W. Lance, “The Personalization of Politics: Political Identity, Social Media, and Changing Patterns of Participation,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 644/1 (2012), 20–39.
-
Bentivegna, Sara et al., “The Agenda-Building Power of Facebook and Twitter: The Case of the 2018 Italian General Election,” in: Davis Taras & Richard Davis (eds.), Electoral Campaigns, Media, and the New World of Digital Politics (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2022), 124–142.
-
Berti, Carlo, “Right-wing Populism and the Criminalization of Sea-rescue NGOs: The ‘Sea-Watch 3’ Case in Italy, and Matteo Salvini’s Communication on Facebook,” Media, Culture & Society 43/3 (2020).
-
Betz, Hans-Georg, Radical Right-wing Populism in Western Europe (New York: Springer, 1994).
-
Bobba, Giuliano, “Social Media Populism: Features and ‘Likeability’ of Lega Nord Communication on Facebook,” European Political Science 18/1 (2019), 11–23.
-
Bordignon, Fabio, “Leader Polarisation: Conflict and Change in the Italian Political System,” South European Society and Politics 25/3–4 (2020), 1–31.
-
Bossetta, Michael, et al., “Cross-Platform Social Media Campaigning: Comparing Strategic Political Messages across Facebook and Twitter in the 2016 U.S. Election,” 70th Annual Conference of International Communication Association (2020).
-
Brubaker, Rogers, “Between Nationalism and Civilizationism: The European Populist Moment in Comparative Perspective,” Ethnic and Racial Studies 40/8 (2017), 1191–1226.
-
Burscher, Bjorn, et al., “Frames beyond Words: Applying Cluster and Sentiment Analysis to News Coverage of the Nuclear Power Issue,” Social Science Computer Review 34/5 (2016), 530–545.
-
Chadwick, Andrew, The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).
-
DeHanas, Nilsson Daniel, & Marat Shterin, “Religion and the Rise of Populism,” Religion, State & Society 46/3 (2018), 177–185.
-
De Vreese, Claes H., “News Framing: Theory and Typology,” Information Design Journal & Document Design 13/1 (2005), 51–62.
-
De Vreese, Claes H., et al., “Populism as an Expression of Political Communication Content and Style: A New Perspective,” The International Journal of Press/Politics 23/4 (2018), 423–438.
-
Diamanti, Giovanni, & Lorenzo Pregliasco, Fenomeno Salvini: chi è, come comunica, perchè lo votano (Rome: Castelvecchi Editore, 2019).
-
Engesser, Sven, et al., “Populism and Social Media: How Politicians Spread a Fragmented Ideology,” Information, Communication & Society 20/8 (2017), 1109–1126.
-
Entman, Robert M., “Framing Media Power,” in: Paul D’Angelo & Jim A. Kuypers (eds.), Doing News Framing Analysis II: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives (New York & London: Routledge, 2010), 331–355.
-
Ernst, Nicole, et al., “Populists Prefer Social Media over Talk Shows: An Analysis of Populist Messages and Stylistic Elements across Six Countries,” Social Media+Society 5/1 (2019), 1–14.
-
Eskjær, Mikkel Fugl, et al. (eds.), The Dynamics of Mediatized Conflicts, Vol. 3 (New York: Peter Lang, 2015).
-
Forgione, Luca, “Sul concetto di frame in comunicazione politica,” Comunicazione Politica 12/2 (2012), 249–266.
-
Garelli, Franco, Religione all’italiana. L’anima del paese messa a nudo (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2011).
-
Garelli, Franco, “Religione e politica in Italia: i nuovi sviluppi,” Quaderni di sociologia 66 (2014), 9–26.
-
Garelli, Franco, Gente di poca fede. Il sentimento religioso nell’Italia incerta di Dio (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2020).
-
Gerbaudo, Paolo, “Social Media and Populism: An Elective Affinity?,” Media, Culture & Society 40/5 (2018), 745–753.
-
Gerli, Matteo, “Frames e contro-frames tra immigrazione e terrorismo: variazioni nella rappresentazione giornalistica delle minacce,” Sicurezza e Scienze Sociali 2 (2019), 55–71.
-
Giglietto, Fabio, Nicola Righetti, Luca Rossi, & Giada Marino, “It Takes a Village to Manipulate the Media: Coordinated Link Sharing Behavior during 2018 and 2019 Italian Elections,” Information, Communication & Society 23/6 (2020), 867–891.
-
Gorski, Philip, “Why Evangelicals Voted for Trump: A Critical Cultural Sociology,” American Journal of Sociology 5 (2017), 338–354.
-
Guolo, Renzo, Chi impugna la croce: Lega e Chiesa (Rome & Bari: Laterza, 2012).
-
Habermas, Jürgen, “Religion in the Public Sphere,” European Journal of Philosophy 14/1 (2006), 1–25.
-
Helbling, Marc, “Framing Immigration in Western Europe,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40/1 (2014), 21–41.
-
Herbert, David E.J., “Theorizing Religion and Media in Contemporary Societies: An Account of Religious ‘Publicization’,” European Journal of Cultural Studies 14/6 (2011), 626–648.
-
Hoelzl, Michael, “The New Visibility of Religion and Its Impact on Populist Politics,” Religions 11/6 (2020), 292–307.
-
Hoover, Stewart M., The Media and Religious Authority (University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 2016).
-
Kalia, Ammar, et al., “Revealed: How Italy’s Populists Used Facebook to Win Power,” The Guardian, December 17, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/17/revealed-how-italy-populists-used-facebook-win-election-matteo-salvini-luigi-di-maio.
-
Kriesi, Hanspeter, “The Populist Challenge,” West European Politics 37/2 (2014), 361–378.
-
Kriesi, Hanspeter, & Takis S. Pappas, European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession (Colchester: ECPR Press, 2015).
-
Krippendorff, Klaus, Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004).
-
LaPan, Chantell, “Review of QDA Miner,” Social Science Computer Review 31/6 (2013), 774–778.
-
Lebart, Ludovic, et al., Exploring Textual Data, Vol. 4 (Cham: Springer Science & Business Media, 1997).
-
Marchetti, Rita, “La Chiesa nel dibattito pubblico,” in: Rolando Marini (ed.), Altri flussi. La comunicazione politica della società civile (Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2011), 163–185.
-
Marwick, Alice, & Rebecca Lewis, Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online (New York: Data & Society Research Institute, 2017).
-
Marzouki, Nadia, et al., Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016).
-
Matthes, Jörg, & Matthias Kohring, “The Content Analysis of Media Frames: Toward Improving Reliability and Validity,” Journal of Communication 58/2 (2008), 258–279.
-
McCormick, William, SJ, “The Populist Pope? Politics, Religion, and Pope Francis,” Politics and Religion 14/1 (2020), 1–23.
-
McDonnell, Duncan, “The Lega Nord: The New Saviour of Northern Italy,” in: Nadia Marzouki et al. (eds.), Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion (London: Hurst, 2016), 13–28.
-
Mazzoni, Marco, & Roberto Mincigrucci, “The Representation of Matteo Salvini in Gossip Magazines: The ‘Ordinary Super Leader’,” Contemporary Italian Politics 13/1 (2020), 1–15.
-
Molle, Andrea, “Religion and Right-wing Populism in Italy: Using ‘Judeo-Christian Roots’ to Kill the European Union,” Religion, State & Society 47/1 (2019), 151–168.
-
Mudde, Cas, “The Populist Zeitgeist,” Government and Opposition 39/4 (2004), 541–563.
-
Mudde, Cas, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
-
Ozzano, Luca, “Religion, Cleavages, and Right-wing Populist Parties: The Italian Case,” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 17/1 (2019), 65–77.
-
Ozzano, Luca, The Masks of the Political God: Religion and Political Parties in Contemporary Democracies (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).
-
Ozzano, Luca, & Fabio Bolzonar, “Is Right-wing Populism a Phenomenon of Religious Dissent? The Cases of the Lega and the Rassemblement National,” International Journal of Religion 1/1 (2020), 45–59.
-
Ozzano, Luca, & Alberta Giorgi, “The Debate on the Crucifix in Public Spaces in Twenty-first Century Italy,” Mediterranean Politics 18/2 (2013), 259–275.
-
Palaver, Wolfgang, “Fraternity versus Parochialism: On Religion and Populism,” Religions 11/7 (2020), 319–331.
-
Passarelli, Gianluca, & Dario Tuorto, La Lega di Salvini: estrema destra di governo (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2018).
-
Pew Research Center, In Western Europe, Public Attitudes Toward News Media More Divided by Populist Views Than Left-Right Ideology (2018).
-
Postill, John, “Populism and Social Media: A Global Perspective,” Media, Culture & Society 40/5 (2018), 754–765.
-
Rega, Rossella, & Rita Marchetti, “The Strategic Use of Incivility in Contemporary Politics: The Case of the 2018 Italian General Election on Facebook,” The Communication Review 24/2 (2021), 107–132.
-
Roy, Olivier, “Beyond Populism: The Conservative Right, the Courts, the Churches and the Concept of a Christian Europe,” in: Nadia Marzouki et al. (eds.), Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion (London: Hurst, 2016), 185–202.
-
Roy, Olivier, Is Europe Christian? (London: Hurst, 2019).
-
Scaramuzzi, Iacopo, Dio? In fondo a destra. Perchè I populismi sfruttano il cristianesimo (Bologna: EMI Editrice Missionaria Italiana, 2020).
-
Schwörer, Jakob, “Right-wing Populist Parties as Defender of Christianity? The Case of the Italian Northern League,” Zeitschrift für Religion, Gesellschaft und Politik 2/2 (2018), 387–413.
-
Seethaler, Josef, & Gabriele Melischek, “Twitter as a Tool for Agenda Building in Election Campaigns? The Case of Austria,” Journalism 20/8 (2019), 1087–1107.
-
Stier, Sebastian, et al., “When Populists Become Popular: Comparing Facebook Use by the Right-wing Movement Pegida and German Political Parties,” Information, Communication & Society 20/9 (2017), 1365–1388.
-
Stier, Sebastian, et al., “Election Campaigning on Social Media: Politicians, Audiences, and the Mediation of Political Communication on Facebook and Twitter,” Political Communication 35/1 (2018), 50–74.
-
Sunstein, Cass R., #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018).
-
Taguieff, Pierre-André, “Political Science Confronts Populism: From a Conceptual Mirage to a Real Problem,” Telos 1995/103 (1995), 9–43.
-
Urbinati, Nadia, Me the People: How Populism Transforms Democracy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019).
-
Zagrebelsky, Gustavo, Scambiarsi la veste: Stato e Chiesa al governo dell’uomo (Rome & Bari: Laterza, 2010).
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1292 | 547 | 82 |
| Full Text Views | 340 | 32 | 4 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 596 | 68 | 11 |
Right-Wing Populism and Political Instrumentalization of Religion
The Italian Debate on Matteo Salvini’s Use of Religious Symbols on Facebook
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeSearch for other papers by Rita Marchetti in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Nicola Righetti in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Susanna Pagiotti in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Anna Stanziano in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The study investigates the online debate sparked by the political instrumentalization of religious symbols by right-wing populist leaders, taking as a case study the campaign communication of Matteo Salvini—leader of the Italian “Lega” party—in the run-up to the 2018 and 2019 general and European elections. Against the backdrop of theories on populism, religious publicization and politicization in a social media context, the research analyzes over 2,000 Facebook posts referring to Salvini and religion by using a mixed computational and qualitative method including semi-automated frame analysis and correspondence analysis. Results show that right-wing populism is capable of successfully appropriating religious symbols and setting the agenda for religious topics on social media, even challenging the authority of traditional religious authorities on their own ground. By attacking the Church, defending the religious sentiment of the people, and opposing Christian identity to Islam, religion is effectively integrated into the populist worldview.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1292 | 547 | 82 |
| Full Text Views | 340 | 32 | 4 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 596 | 68 | 11 |
