Radicalization and deradicalization in Italian migration political debate in the time of COVID-19 pandemic

In the history of societies, pandemics have been associated with increasing violence against foreigners and xenophobic discrimination. This study investigates right-wing radicalization process on the migration public debate in Italy, testing the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed it forward. Radicalization is investigated in the dialectical relationship with the de-radicalization process. Critical discourse analysis is applied to the discourses of the main political parties representatives before and during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. The results show the attempt, by the main right wing political actor, to exploit the pandemic in order to fuel anti-migrant radicalization of ideas, even if this effort didn’t meet the expected results. The study also highlights the weakness of center left-wing parties in counteracting this process of radicalization and the key role played, in this respect, by the highest Catholic authority. This study contributes to the theoretical debate on radicalization processes, highlighting the dialectical perspective between the dynamics of radicalization and de-radicalization