Europeanization as Pragmatic Politics: Italy’s Civil Society Actors Operating in the Face of Right-Wing Populism

Fazila Mat (), Luisa Chiodi and Oliver Schmidtke
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Fazila Mat: Department of Political Science, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Luisa Chiodi: Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa—CCI, Via Tartarotti, 7, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
Oliver Schmidtke: Centre for Global Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8S 1L4, Canada

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: This article examines how and under what conditions Italy’s civil society organizations (CSOs) have resorted to transnational activism and to what extent these efforts translate into impactful political advocacy. The analysis focuses on the action strategies of these civil society actors that have come under considerable pressure through the resurgence of populist–nationalist actors in the domestic arena. Developing an actor-centred perspective from below, this article draws on a series of 27 interviews conducted with these organizations’ representatives working primarily on issues related to migration and refugees in Italy. The empirical study examines some key initiatives that see domestic CSOs as protagonists in the transnational realm and explicates their motivations, approaches, and experiences. Conceptually, the article distinguishes between the vertical and horizontal Europeanization of CSOs. While there are notable opportunities for CSOs to engage in Brussels-centred governance and policy making, the effectiveness of horizontal Europeanization in the form of cross-border networking is—at first sight paradoxically—limited by the EU’s system of multi-level governance. The central argument about Europeanizing civil society activism is that these processes are primarily driven by a pragmatic pursuit of solutions to concrete political challenges that could not be properly addressed in an increasingly hostile domestic environment.

Keywords: civil society; Italy; Europeanization; populism; transnationalization; migration; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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