La fascinazione reaganiana. Il Movimento sociale italiano e la destra neoliberale

The essay focuses on how the political culture of the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) was influenced by the themes promoted by Ronald Reagan, and more generally by the neoliberal right, from the late 1970s to the 1980s. In those years the MSI was the only Italian party to place itself on the right of the political spectrum, but it was also the only one to express a positive and nostalgic vision of fascism. Since the beginning of the Reagan presidency, the MSI strongly supported its international and domestic policies and espoused the traditionalist perspectives of the neoliberal right regarding the idea of family, abortion, and gender relations. The call of the neoliberal right was “translated” to match the identity of the MSI, as the political and economic culture of the party became increasingly sensitive to neoliberal positions.