ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 provides a brief historical background on the Lega Nord (‘Northern League’), which has become one of the most intense far-right political parties across the European Union. Originally, the Lega Nord, which was recently renamed as Lega (‘League’), was created with the intent of keeping Southern Italians away from the northern regions. Today, however, the Lega has recruited members from Central and Southern Italy as well, easing up the internal separation given the demographic changes that Italy has recently seen with the arrival of migrants and refugees. Since the 1990s, this political party has become very popular, especially for its strong, anti-immigration efforts, which have occurred alongside efforts at regionalization, including local language revitalization. While language revitalization initiatives have occurred in many Northern Italian regions, this chapter focuses on the revitalization of Venetan, the local language of the Veneto region, a language that has been spoken for centuries. As this chapter shows, the Lega’s strong anti-immigrant politics, together with these language revitalization initiatives, can create intimate exclusions, which often go beyond Venetans’ narrative practices.
