This book is the first full-length study available in English to trace the extraordinary history of the Italian Northern Leagues during the 1980s and 1990s. At a time when the postwar First Republic entered a crisis amid corruption scandals, the Leagues acted as one of the main protest actors and grew at an unprecedented rate.

Drawing on electoral and survey data, existing research, eyewitness accounts of protest events and interviews with activists and leaders, this book provides the definitive account of the movement. Damian Tambini analyses why the movement was so successful in mobilising support, and focuses on its most novel aspect: its use of nationalism. The new regionalist movements in Northern Italy, which were unified into the Northern League in 1990, had a huge influence on Italian politics during the period.

Written for scholars interested in nationalism, ethnicity and citizenship; and for specialists in European Studies, Italian and ethnic studies, Nationalism in Italian Politics draws on the best Italian and international research to thoroughly analyse the movement, and update classic studies of nationalism in the age of media spectacle.