Voltagabbana Rhetorics: Turncoating as a Populist Strategy in Pandemic Times
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Voltagabbana Rhetorics: Turncoating as a Populist Strategy in Pandemic Times. / Pietrucci, Pamela.
Populist Rhetorics: Case Studies and a Minimalist Definition. Springer Nature Switzerland, 2022. p. 49-80 (Rhetoric, Politics and Society).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
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TY - CHAP
T1 - Voltagabbana Rhetorics: Turncoating as a Populist Strategy in Pandemic Times
AU - Pietrucci, Pamela
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - In this chapter I examine the incoherent, oscillating character of right-wing rhetoric during the Coronavirus global crisis in the second half of 2020. By focusing on Matteo Salvini’s political discourse about Covid precautionary measures in Italy and bycontextualizing it among several similar international examples, I make the case that the dramatic u-turns on issues such as mask mandates and lockdowns, typically performed by right-wing politicians, can be understood as a contemporary manifestation of classic political trasformismo. Drawing on accounts of Italian historic trasformismo, I conceptualize this discursive strategy with the term “voltagabbana”––the Italian word for opportunistic reversals, u-turns, and inversions in political stance. I also argue that these turnabouts, in Italy and elsewhere, are not primarily examples of a type of populist rhetoric from politicians who claim to have a metaphysical or spiritual understanding of the will of ‘the people’; rather we can understand their maneuvers as a kind of algorithmic populism, informed by data driven advice leading them to capitalize on trending topics and/or produce topics of interest that shift news cycles and public attention in strategic, exploitative ways. The essay concludes by demonstrating how voltagabbana rhetoric, as a populist strategy, can be a tool forenabling the flight from accountability and responsibility crucial to demagoguery.
AB - In this chapter I examine the incoherent, oscillating character of right-wing rhetoric during the Coronavirus global crisis in the second half of 2020. By focusing on Matteo Salvini’s political discourse about Covid precautionary measures in Italy and bycontextualizing it among several similar international examples, I make the case that the dramatic u-turns on issues such as mask mandates and lockdowns, typically performed by right-wing politicians, can be understood as a contemporary manifestation of classic political trasformismo. Drawing on accounts of Italian historic trasformismo, I conceptualize this discursive strategy with the term “voltagabbana”––the Italian word for opportunistic reversals, u-turns, and inversions in political stance. I also argue that these turnabouts, in Italy and elsewhere, are not primarily examples of a type of populist rhetoric from politicians who claim to have a metaphysical or spiritual understanding of the will of ‘the people’; rather we can understand their maneuvers as a kind of algorithmic populism, informed by data driven advice leading them to capitalize on trending topics and/or produce topics of interest that shift news cycles and public attention in strategic, exploitative ways. The essay concludes by demonstrating how voltagabbana rhetoric, as a populist strategy, can be a tool forenabling the flight from accountability and responsibility crucial to demagoguery.
UR - https://soeg.kb.dk/permalink/45KBDK_KGL/1pioq0f/alma99124000225505763
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-87351-6_3
DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-87351-6_3
M3 - Book chapter
SN - 978-3-030-87353-0
T3 - Rhetoric, Politics and Society
SP - 49
EP - 80
BT - Populist Rhetorics
PB - Springer Nature Switzerland
ER -
ID: 291125490