Europe as ideological resource

Abstract

Abstract This chapter presents the theoretical approach of the book and details its empirical and methodological tenets. It opens with a discussion of the far right’s ‘legitimacy deficit’. It then considers how Europe could constitute an ideological resource for far-right parties looking for legitimation. An ideological resource is described as a device that offers political parties an opportunity to revise and reframe their political message. The chapter argues that as a new and relatively contentious political issue, European integration represented one such resource for far-right parties because it enabled them to recast their message in a way that would appeal to old and new voters alike. The chapter concludes with a description of the book’s empirical approach, which is based on the morphological and discourse analysis of over 400 party documents produced between 1978 and 2019 by the Italian Social Movement/Alleanza Nazionale and the Rassemblement National.