Pandemic and New Rights:

Giorgia Meloni’s ascendant in Italy (2020-2022)

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze and problematize the rise of a far-right female leadership: in this case, Giorgia Meloni, at the command of her Fratelli D'Italia party (FDI, “Brothers of Italy”) during the period 2020- 2022. We focused on these years for two main reasons: 1) the emergence of covid19 in the Italian peninsula, being the most affected nation in Europe in mid-2020, unleashed a great socio-political, economic, and a health shock; 2) It is precisely this scenario of conflict that has boosted the popularity of this Roman politician and journalist like never before. The main motivation of the paper is to link her political career, her status as a “working woman and a mother” (as she defines herself), her political platform with the pandemic situation (which reflects a clear expansion of the far right in Italy), and thus, present an explanation of her spectacular electoral rise in the so-called Bel Paese.