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First They Took Rome: How the Populist Right Conquered Italy
Italy’s political disaster under a microscopeThere is little that hasn’t gone wrong for Italy in the last three decades. Economic growth has flatlined, infrastructure has crumbled, and out-of-work youth find their futures stuck on hold. These woes have been reflected in the country’s politics, from Silvio Berlusconi’s scandals to the rise of the far right. Many commentators blame Italy’s malaise on cultural ills—pointing to the corruption of public life or a supposedly endemic backwardness. In this reading, Italy has failed to converge with the neoliberal reforms mounted by other European countries, leaving it to trail behind the rest of the world. First They Took Rome offers a different Italy isn’t failing to keep up with its international peers but farther along the same path of decline they are following. In the 1980s, Italy boasted the West’s strongest Communist Party; today, social solidarity is collapsing, working people feel ever more atomized, and democratic institutions grow increasingly hollow. Studying the rise of forces like Matteo Salvini’s Lega, this book shows how the populist right drew on a deep well of social despair, ignored by the liberal centre. Italy’s recent history is a warning from the future—the story of a collapse of public life that risks spreading across the West.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 16, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 16, 2020
When it comes to Italian politics, whether you think you’ve heard it all, or whether you think you couldn’t care less, you should read this book. I’m not ashamed to admit that before reading this book I found Italian politics confusing. After all, i’m surely not alone. If you’re only vaguely paying attention to Italy you get the impression there is a new political scandal or reshuffling every few months and it all seems a bit chaotic. You might be aware that Italy is the 3rd largest economy in Europe, yet for some reason you’re not 100% sure who the prime minister is at the moment (its Giuseppe Conte), and even if you do know (but be honest you probably didn’t) it doesn’t seem to tell you much about who is ~really~ calling the shots. Try to turn to media accounts for some clarity and you’ll only add more confusion: you’ll be told contradictorily that all this instability is because Italians are innately backwards and conservative, yet somehow also prone to new populist fads and all the chaotic political reshuffling that comes with them.
All this has formed a thick fog over Italian politics that David Broder aims to clear for you with “First They Took Rome”. The book is billed as an account of the rise of the populist right that in a few short years has seen rise of Matteo Salvini and the right-wing populist Lega. It certainly succeeds in this and anyone looking for an explanation of the genesis of the Lega that is thoroughly informed, thoughtful and detailed will find his account indispensable. Yet it is much more than just an account of the Lega, since David Broder’s argument hinges on explaining the rise of the Lega and the even more politically nebulous Five Star Movement in a way that is deeply grounded in the broader development of Italian politics since 1989.
His mastery of the context is what really sets this book apart, and one of his first examples sets the tone of the book: He recounts how commentators were shocked at the drastic turnover of MPs after the 2018 election (more than 65% we unseated or resigned) and they lamented this unheard-of degree of turbulence. But Broder points out that in fact there was an even larger turnover in 1994 (66%). This turn back to the early 1990s is illustrative of his larger argument, which aims to clarify the Italian experience of political party-system resulting from the end of the cold war order and the entrenchment of economic problems in the context of deepening of European economic integration after 1990. The instability of the Italian party system is not the result of anachronism. Italians and their politics are not backwards, they in fact represent a future many other countries party systems may soon face. The instability is the result of the dissolution of traditional mass-based centre-left and centre-right political parties. In Italy, these forces were the Christian democrats and the communist party, both of which effectively collapsed in the early 90s. In the rest of Europe social democratic and Christian democratic parties have been on a slow and potentially terminal decline. In light of this even greater context, the book is a warning: pay attention to Italy because shows what our future may hold, and it doesn’t look good.
All this has formed a thick fog over Italian politics that David Broder aims to clear for you with “First They Took Rome”. The book is billed as an account of the rise of the populist right that in a few short years has seen rise of Matteo Salvini and the right-wing populist Lega. It certainly succeeds in this and anyone looking for an explanation of the genesis of the Lega that is thoroughly informed, thoughtful and detailed will find his account indispensable. Yet it is much more than just an account of the Lega, since David Broder’s argument hinges on explaining the rise of the Lega and the even more politically nebulous Five Star Movement in a way that is deeply grounded in the broader development of Italian politics since 1989.
His mastery of the context is what really sets this book apart, and one of his first examples sets the tone of the book: He recounts how commentators were shocked at the drastic turnover of MPs after the 2018 election (more than 65% we unseated or resigned) and they lamented this unheard-of degree of turbulence. But Broder points out that in fact there was an even larger turnover in 1994 (66%). This turn back to the early 1990s is illustrative of his larger argument, which aims to clarify the Italian experience of political party-system resulting from the end of the cold war order and the entrenchment of economic problems in the context of deepening of European economic integration after 1990. The instability of the Italian party system is not the result of anachronism. Italians and their politics are not backwards, they in fact represent a future many other countries party systems may soon face. The instability is the result of the dissolution of traditional mass-based centre-left and centre-right political parties. In Italy, these forces were the Christian democrats and the communist party, both of which effectively collapsed in the early 90s. In the rest of Europe social democratic and Christian democratic parties have been on a slow and potentially terminal decline. In light of this even greater context, the book is a warning: pay attention to Italy because shows what our future may hold, and it doesn’t look good.
April 5, 2023
Every country probably needs a book like this one, laying out its recent electoral past. Anderson's Brazil Apart is a similar effort. Such texts are valuable, but labor intensive, insofar as they work meticulously through the electoral process of a modern state, with attention to personalities, issues, and so on.
This particular text leaves off just before the recent election that brought fascist Meloni to the prime ministry.
This particular text leaves off just before the recent election that brought fascist Meloni to the prime ministry.
March 25, 2021
Seems appropriate to give this book five stars
March 7, 2021
A short, clear guide for understanding contemporary Italian politics, with touches of insightful political commentary throughout. Would heartily recommend to anyone trying to make sense of Italy's mystifying party system as well as those interested in the wider project of European neoliberalism.
July 25, 2020
Really insightful analysis of the last three decades of Italian politics--no easy feat, as those three decades have been marked by an incredible volatility, with major parties dissolving, forming, rising, falling, entering into less and less likely alliances, recombining, etc.
A major part of the success of Broder's analysis is that he never loses track of the class character of these evolving parties and movements. It's kind of astonishing how little attention most writers pay to this, to be honest. You can't understand the rise of Salvini until you understand how the once-mighty Italian left lost its base--but not to Salvini, or at least not directly. Sound confusing? I mean, it kind of is, but will be much less so if you read this book.
A major part of the success of Broder's analysis is that he never loses track of the class character of these evolving parties and movements. It's kind of astonishing how little attention most writers pay to this, to be honest. You can't understand the rise of Salvini until you understand how the once-mighty Italian left lost its base--but not to Salvini, or at least not directly. Sound confusing? I mean, it kind of is, but will be much less so if you read this book.
March 13, 2024
Essential for understanding contemporary Italian politics
August 16, 2020
American political wonks often look to Great Britain as a harbinger of future elections and party developments in the fifty states. However, Italy and its recent contortions between "outsider" parties like the Five-Star Movement, the far-right Lega and the collapse of traditional centre-left and centre-right coalitions offers another potential reflecting pool for American politics, as well as a portent for future developments within the European Union.
David Broder's "First They Took Rome" is likely the best modern primer on Italian politics available in English. Though heavy with acronyms and names that may be unfamiliar to casual observers of European politics, Broder's book is an excellent and accessible overview of what has happened in Italy in the last thirty years.
Most interestingly, Broder describes the gradual hollowing-out of the traditional mainstay parties of the 20th Century, particularly the downfall of the Italian Communist Party. In the void left by anti-corruption efforts and the end of the Cold War, Berlusconi and other hucksters first stepped in. However, by the 2010s, a new phenomenon emerged: the rapid ascension of outsider parties.
The Lega, a far-right party suffused with a xenophobia perfectly matched with Trump Republicanism, has been the primary beneficiary, assuming a role in a ruling coalition in 2018 and now standing around 50% or so in the polls. While its ideology is elastic (it is not exactly a purely Italexit party), it is forged with the base alloy of Italian nationalism, echoing the movements in Hungary and Poland.
The Five Star Movement is the unexpected counterpart to the Lega. An anti-corruption party that has pledged additional financial support to struggling Italian middle- and lower-class workers, it has developed into a force supplanting the Communists and other traditional leftist forces in Italian society.
Broder's analysis leaves lingering questions for how Western democracies should confront such outsider forces. The obvious take-away is that European austerity and fiscal discipline has been disastrous for Italy, as it has been for deep-red states like Kansas in the United States. A Keynesianism 2.0 is desperately needed to add an intellectual counterpunch to the austerity fiends in power across much of the EU.
The second point is just as important: as the left has lost its spirit with the crashing down of Soviet communism and poorly-run and compromised socialist governments in France, Venezuela and other countries, a new positive spirit must be developed in order to contend with the far-right. The left has had to justify its existence as a last-ditch measure against cranks like Berlusconi and Salvini, not to mention Trump in the United States. However, more is needed than just a "no" vote platform. Something must be offered, a theme developed, a national program blasted across social media and the airwaves for any long-term success to be sustained by parties of the centre and left.
For anyone interested in the intricacies of Italian politics, Broder's book is the first, and best, place to turn.
David Broder's "First They Took Rome" is likely the best modern primer on Italian politics available in English. Though heavy with acronyms and names that may be unfamiliar to casual observers of European politics, Broder's book is an excellent and accessible overview of what has happened in Italy in the last thirty years.
Most interestingly, Broder describes the gradual hollowing-out of the traditional mainstay parties of the 20th Century, particularly the downfall of the Italian Communist Party. In the void left by anti-corruption efforts and the end of the Cold War, Berlusconi and other hucksters first stepped in. However, by the 2010s, a new phenomenon emerged: the rapid ascension of outsider parties.
The Lega, a far-right party suffused with a xenophobia perfectly matched with Trump Republicanism, has been the primary beneficiary, assuming a role in a ruling coalition in 2018 and now standing around 50% or so in the polls. While its ideology is elastic (it is not exactly a purely Italexit party), it is forged with the base alloy of Italian nationalism, echoing the movements in Hungary and Poland.
The Five Star Movement is the unexpected counterpart to the Lega. An anti-corruption party that has pledged additional financial support to struggling Italian middle- and lower-class workers, it has developed into a force supplanting the Communists and other traditional leftist forces in Italian society.
Broder's analysis leaves lingering questions for how Western democracies should confront such outsider forces. The obvious take-away is that European austerity and fiscal discipline has been disastrous for Italy, as it has been for deep-red states like Kansas in the United States. A Keynesianism 2.0 is desperately needed to add an intellectual counterpunch to the austerity fiends in power across much of the EU.
The second point is just as important: as the left has lost its spirit with the crashing down of Soviet communism and poorly-run and compromised socialist governments in France, Venezuela and other countries, a new positive spirit must be developed in order to contend with the far-right. The left has had to justify its existence as a last-ditch measure against cranks like Berlusconi and Salvini, not to mention Trump in the United States. However, more is needed than just a "no" vote platform. Something must be offered, a theme developed, a national program blasted across social media and the airwaves for any long-term success to be sustained by parties of the centre and left.
For anyone interested in the intricacies of Italian politics, Broder's book is the first, and best, place to turn.
June 18, 2021
First They Took Rome is a fascinating book. Broder deconstructs the common trope (even among Italians) that Italian politics are backwards, unstable, and broken. He examines the collapse of the historically powerful Italian left via Clintonian New Leftism, the population's disconnect from mass politics, and the reactionary message that has filled the vacuum. Broder describes a 1990s rush to imitate an idealized view of German culture and politics, introducing a EU-led version of the shock therapy that crippled post-USSR Russia.
First They Took Rome is more than a story about Italian politics, but simultaneously a preview and analysis of the whole of Western politics. In some ways, it's terribly depressing book, but there is hope in understanding that this rise of neo/postfascism is more than an inexorible march, but the product of an intentional demobilization of working class material politics in order to promote a neoliberal project to strip the copper out of the walls on the way out.
It's a quick, well-written, tightly edited book that I recommend to anybody who is interested in the last 40 years of Western politics through the lens of Italy's collapse.
First They Took Rome is more than a story about Italian politics, but simultaneously a preview and analysis of the whole of Western politics. In some ways, it's terribly depressing book, but there is hope in understanding that this rise of neo/postfascism is more than an inexorible march, but the product of an intentional demobilization of working class material politics in order to promote a neoliberal project to strip the copper out of the walls on the way out.
It's a quick, well-written, tightly edited book that I recommend to anybody who is interested in the last 40 years of Western politics through the lens of Italy's collapse.
July 29, 2020
A short, useful book about trends in recent Italian politics that relates those trends to similar ones across the industrialized world. The left and center-left, stuck in "resistance", no positive program, nothing to show to its increasingly demobilized base. The right and center-right, surging but not invulnerable. What this moment calls for is a bold new vision for socialism, not just "resistance". A positive, progressive platform - not merely cries of nostalgia for a tarnished past. The only way out of this is forward.
August 9, 2020
Excellent analysis of the rise and evolution of the Lega, offering an alternative to a dispirited and ineffective left. The decline of the labour movement and the shift of the Italian left to the identity of aging middle r radicals has eviscerated its support. Salvini is an example of right wing radicalism facing us all as politics loses relevance to the mass of the public. A warning to us all but who is listening?
October 13, 2020
Serviceable account of how the party system of Italy's postwar First Republic gave way to the free-for-all among populist parties that has prevailed in recent years. At times it would have been useful to have more insight into the cleavage structure, the issues that divided the parties these days. Naturally these issues are discussed - immigration, Europe, debt, etc. -- in the course of the narrative but it would have been useful to have the cleavages discussed more systematically.
May 16, 2021
persuasive and digestible. points to a host of things you might expect (neoliberal dogma, corruption, economic stagnation, perpetual austerity, deindustrialisation, xenophobia) and a couple you might not (the EU/euro, young people tending towards political apathy or M5S / Lega).
October 18, 2022
6.5/10
A fascinating look into contemporary Italian politics, and given the constant upheaval, one that could do with a big chapter on Fratelli D'italia just in the 2 years since it's been written. Does a tremendous job of highlighting the contradictions present in the Italian Right's rise, but at times was a bit confusing as someone who is not an expert on the subject matter, but I suppose that is the game of understanding Italian politics. Overall very enjoyable and I am looking forward to Mussolini's Grandchildren.
A fascinating look into contemporary Italian politics, and given the constant upheaval, one that could do with a big chapter on Fratelli D'italia just in the 2 years since it's been written. Does a tremendous job of highlighting the contradictions present in the Italian Right's rise, but at times was a bit confusing as someone who is not an expert on the subject matter, but I suppose that is the game of understanding Italian politics. Overall very enjoyable and I am looking forward to Mussolini's Grandchildren.
July 16, 2020
Bloody great read this. Would highly reccomend
November 30, 2020
Written by a Jacobin writer and still approved by Tyler Cowen :) https://marginalrevolution.com/margin...
Very good.
Very good.
February 21, 2025
Not as good as his book "mussolini's grandchildren" but still interesting. The M5S is also even more confusing to me then it was before.
August 5, 2020
About as good as survey of this topic as I could imagine being written. Tells you everything you need to know with brevity and some wit.
January 4, 2024
This book gave me a good understanding of the recent political situation in Italy, which I have always found confusing, for that reason alone the book is recommended
May 31, 2021
Forse un po' troppo sintetico in alcune sezioni, come la breve menzione a Ignazio Marino.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews