Introduction

This introductory chapter delineates the basic features of the Five Stars Movement, its characters of populist movements, the role of the leadership and of grassroots activists, the style of communication, the ideological profile. This general framework is then used to compare the FSM with similar political experiences around Europe (in particuar the Spanish Podemos and the German Piraten Partei). The chapter concludes by anticipating the content and structure of the book.