Vito Laterza

Drawing from political theory, media and communication studies, and linguistic anthropology, Vito Laterza examines how the Italian “red-brown” movements that developed from anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination protests strategically blend left-wing rhetoric and far-right ideologies. He uses anthropologist Gregory Bateson’s theory of schizophrenic communication to analyze how these fringe movements blend contradictory symbols and ideas to generate consensus for far-right policies. The project highlights two effects of this communication: 1) the reframing of exclusionary far-right ideas and policies with messages resembling progressive claims (e.g. claiming that stopping immigration is a way to stop the capitalist exploitation of cheap labor); and 2) the emergence of a kind of “virtual politics” that infiltrates left-wing movements, with the aim of demobilizing effective leftist politics. This work is part of a broader book project that seeks to understand the evolution of populism in Italy, from Berlusconi’s mass-mediated populism, through the Five Star Movement’s post-ideological social media populism, to the recent consolidation of authoritarian right-wing populism led by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.