Changing the Guard on the Italian Extreme Right

From its position as the epitome of the ‘old’ post-war fascist extreme right party, the Movimento Sociale Italiano/Alleanza Nazionale (AN) has shifted towards the ideological centre and reinvented itself as a proto-conservative party to exploit the new institutional logic of the post-1993 Italian political system. Conversely, the Northern League has shifted from its position as regionalist protest party to an actor more akin to other European extreme right parties, particularly in its authoritarian and anti-immigrant rhetoric.