Discontent in the ‘peripheries’: an investigation of the rise of populism in Italy

The concept of periphery, going beyond the mere interpretation in geographical terms, incorporates a ‘relational’ character that is implicitly characterized by connotations of power and inequality. Peripheries can be actively created as an outcome of shifts in economic and political decision-making at various scales. The recent populist wave has brought to the fore the issue of peripheries as ‘left behind’ places, striking back in the ballot boxes. In this paper, we investigate the role of different dimensions of peripherality and their changing geographies on populist voting patterns by analysing the growth of non-traditional parties between the general elections held in Italy in 2013 and 2018. First, we consider a spatial dimension of peripherality, that is, the geography of access to services of general interest. Second, we explore some factors that might be associated with a condition of peripherality, meant as marginality. We find that the growth of discontent in Italy has different explanatory factors in core and peripheral areas. Irrespective of geographical peripherality, where, however, populist votes are more concentrated, our findings reveal that a condition of marginality may feed a sense of revenge connected to the feeling of ‘not mattering’ also in urban areas.