By Jacob Braun
The “Arrowed Turtle,” the logo for the Italian neofascist CasaPound Party, CasaPound, via WikiMedia Commons
The former Italian political party CasaPound is a neo-fascist, identitarian social movement that regularly espouses the ideas of Benito Mussolini and National Socialism. Although the movement may be relegated to the fringe in Italian politics, some of its political aims have snaked their way into the current Italian parliament. This blog post will aim to answer the question: how did they manage that?
The Identitarian Lambda, primarily used by European Identitarian groups inspired by Spartan Shields in the movie 300, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
IDENTITARIANISM
Identitarianism originates from the French Bloc Identitaire movement and has since exploded across Europe, propagated by essayists such as Alain de Benoist and Renaud Camus. It is a racist, anti-Muslim, anti-immigration movement that seeks to preserve “European heritage” by rejecting multiculturalism and upholding white supremacy. They promote Christian values against what they claim to be the forced Islamization of Europe—the very definition of a Trumpist, “my country first!” type populism.
RESPECTABLE DISCOURSE
Identitarianism as a political movement in Italy did not attract enough voters to give it much weight in parliament or any provincial politics, which is why the party ceased functioning in 2019. However as a social movement, Identitarianism has been able to attract Italian citizens concerned with the transnational nature of the European Union. The Identitarian movement carried by their CasaPound vessel was able to bridge the gap between fringe and respectable, allowing its politics to enter parliament.
LINK TO FdI
CasaPound’s policies are found in the repertoire of the Fratelli d’Italia. Both parties hold harsh views against immigration to Italy, proposing some sort of military intervention to solve the issue. Additionally, both parties raise questions about Italy’s presence in the EU; a worrying thought.
The Plague of Populism 
I really like the headline of this post! I think it’s really intriguing, and it makes me want to learn more about the CasaPound Italia turtle. I am interested, why did they choose a turtle? What is its significance to the party?
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Here is the reason they chose the turtle, according to CasaPound themselves:
“The reasons for this choice are varied and articulated.
We try to go step by step.
The turtle is the animal par excellence that represents longevity so it’s a wish.
The tortoise is one of the very few living beings who is lucky enough to have the house with it, so for us it best represents our main struggle or the right to own the house and the social mortgage.
According to oriental culture, the turtle is the animal that carries knowledge of the world on its back, so it bodes well for a community that wants to identify its roots in culture.
The tortoise is also called tortuga or testudo.
In both cases it reminds us of situations inherent in our culture.
In the Tortuga, the last free men of the sea hid their treasures, in the Roman formation called Testudo the army of Rome demonstrated its greatness by conquering the known world at the time, demonstrating that strength when it arises from a vertical order and from a hierarchical principle it is destined to dominate barbarism, even if in smaller numbers.”
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