Giorgia and Her Brothers: Italian Case Study in Right-wing Populism, Leadership Styles, and Gender Issues

Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Type
article
DOI
Journal
Abstract
Observing the political rise of Giorgia Meloni, leader of the post-fascist, right-wing party Brothers of Italy, this paper aims to deepen the understanding of the relationship between right-wing populism, leadership and gender. After briefly reconstructing the history of Italy as an incubation laboratory for populism in late modernity, the analysis focuses on the evolution of Giorgia Meloni’s female, populist and right-wing leadership. By focusing on the communication style adopted by the sovereigntist leader in three decisive moments of her political rise – the phase of antagonistic marginality (2018), the heroic moment of the conquest of power (2022) and the current period of government management (2024) – the article reconstructs the profile of a political figure who, at least in the context of Western liberal democracies, can constitute a reference model for research at the intersection of populist studies, gender studies and leadership studies.
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