Mussolini´s Grandchildren : Fascism in Contemporary Italy

The dominant 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 around national identity, polarised political debate around World War II, and secured the largest vote share in Italy´s 2022 general election. Eighty years after the fall of Mussolini, his heirs and admirers are again in power. So how exactly has this situation come about?

Mussolini´s Grandchildren 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, legitimise its political heirs and shift the terrain of mainstream politics is proving alarmingly successful.