Umberto Bossi and the Northern League
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University of Bath PHD Missionary politics in contemporary Europe: Jean Marie Le Pen's National Front and Umberto Bossi's Northern League Zaquete, Jose Pedro Award date: 2004 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 10. Oct. 2021 60 1106496 3 MISSIONARY POLITICS IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE: JEAN MARIE LE PEN’S NATIONAL FRONT AND UMBERTO BOSSI’S NORTHERN LEAGUE Submitted by Jose Pedro Zuquete for the degree of PhD of the University of Bath Department of European Studies and Modern Languages October 2004 COPYRIGHT Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with its author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the prior consent of the author. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT Despite its supposed secularization, in the last decades Europe has witnessed the flourishing of neo-populist movements - commonly regarded as ‘extreme right wing movements’ - which are characterized by charismatic leaders who proclaim their world- rejecting Salvationist creed to a devoted following. Previous explanations of these movements have been primarily materialistic. While valuable, such explanations do not address the internal beliefs, practices and world-views that motivate these groups. This thesis uses extensive archival material, interviews, publications, speeches, and other empirical data from within two of the most successful such groups, the National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen and the Northern League of Umberto Bossi, to develop a more productive and inclusive model of charismatic political movements in the contemporary West. The thesis pays special attention to the non-material dimensions of these movements, focusing on the cultural frames that sustain the groups, sacral ize them and provide them with a world-view and place in history. These findings are systematized and integrated into an ideal type, designated as “Missionary Politics.” This missionary form of politics should be understood, following the methodological path of Emilio Gentile and Roger Griffin, as a cluster concept, defined as a political religion, and characterized by a dynamic interaction between charismatic leadership, a narrative of salvation, outsiderhood and ritualization, and the creation of a moral community invested with a collective mission of battling conspiratorial enemies and of redeeming the nation from its current crisis. The thesis argues that the notion of Missionary Politics sheds light on non material dynamics in contemporary radical populist movements that have previously been unnoticed or ignored by contemporary social analysis. Furthermore, current trends toward increased globalization, European integration, and Islamic immigration have the potential to increase the allure and potency of charismatic European faith-based movements proclaiming a politics of salvation. UNIVERSITY OF BATH LIBRARY 1 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. The Secularization Paradigm................................................ 5 2. Mission in Max Weber’s Sociology ...................................... 9 3. Mission and Secular Religions.......................................... 12 4. The Problem ............................................................................ 25 5. Missionary Paradigm: Approach and Methodology ... 28 6. Case Studies............................................................................. 34 7. Plan of the Thesis................................................................... 36 LE PEN AND THE NATIONAL FRONT 1. The Crisis............................................................................... 37 2. The Group as The Elected................................................. 40 . Historical Continuity...................... 40 . The Definition of the Group............................................... 45 . The Group Under Siege....................................................... 48 . The National Front’s Exceptionality................................. 59 3. Le Pen as The Savior 63 2 3.1. The Le Pen Industry .................................................... 63 .The Inner Circle............................................................... 63 .The Leader’s Discourse.................................................. 73 .The Personalized Party.................................................. 81 3.2 Religious Symbolism ........................................................ 85 . Rhetoric .............................................................................. 85 . Rituals................................................................................. 90 . Moral Community ............................................................. 98 . Charisma............................................................................. 104 3.3 The Succession of the Charismatic Leader................... 105 4. Politics as Salvation............................................................. 106 UMBERTO BOSSI AND THE NORTHERN LEAGUE 1. The Crisis.............................................................................. I ll 2. The Group as the Vanguard............................................. 112 . Historical Continuity........................................................... 112 . The Definition of the Group.................................................. 116 . The Group Under Siege......................................................... 119 . The League’s Exceptionality................................................ 137 3. Bossi as The Savior............................................................... 140 3.1 The Bossi Industry ............................................................ 140 . The Inner Circle............................................................. 140 . The Leader’s Discourse................................................ 147 . The Personalized Party.................................................. 153 3 3.2 Religious Symbolism ........................................................ 158 . Rhetoric ....................................................................... 159 . Rituals............................................................................. 159 . Moral Community ...................................................... 165 . Charisma......................................................................... 173 3.3 The Succession of the Charismatic Leader......................174 4. Politics as Salvation................................................................... 177 THE MISSIONARY MODEL Elements of Sacredness....................................................... 181 1. A Sacred Nation................................................................ 182 2. A Sacred History ............................................................... 186 3. Chosen Peoples ............................................................... 189 4. Apocalypticism and Dynamics of Salvation................. 191 5. The Messianic Leader...................................................... 202 The Sacred Collective...................................................... 211 1. Narrative and Outsiderhood....................................... 212 2. Ritualism and Outsiderhood..................................... 214 3. The Collective and Liminality.................................. 216 4. Communitas and Militancy........................................ 218 . Group Dynamics, Commitment and Conversion .... 219 Leadership and the Missionary M odel.......................... 222 The Future of Missionary Politics ................................. 224 4 AN OVERVIEW ...........................................................................227 A ppendix