Intersectional Solidarity in Action: Social Movements Challenging Meloni’s Securitarism

The victory of the populist radical right party Brothers of Italy in 2022 marked the last step of a political backlash that has been unfolding since the mid-2010s, characterized by escalating attacks on migrants, LGBTQ individuals, and other minority groups. Defined as “a distinct form of political contestation with a regressive objective” (Alter and Zurn 2020, 576), backlash politics is often met with various forms of resistance in extra-institutional settings (della Porta et al., 2022). In this seminar, Chiara Milan examines the law proposal known as the “Security Decree” as a paradigmatic example of a regressive policy aimed at silencing social conflict. Under the ostensibly reassuring idea of “security”, the Decree encompasses a range of repressive measures aimed at severely punishing those who protests, including trade unions’ members, migrants, incarcerated or convicted individuals (particularly women), while significantly curtailing their political and civil rights. The proposal elicited significant social mobilization across Italy, favoring a process of convergence between different groups (trade unions, environmentalist organizations, national associations, NGOs, squatted social centres, political collectives), and differently oppressed subjectivities (namely, political activists, workers, transfeminists). Drawing on quantitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews with participants in the resistance, we explore this process of convergence, arguing that during periods of intense backlash, progressive social movements respond by enhancing solidarity among and with those under attack, and fostering collaboration between diverse organizations. This dynamic, in turn, contributes to the increased intersectionality of social struggles.

Previous seminars:

30th October 2025
Martin Portos | Scuola Normale Superiore
with Alejandro Ciordia | Scuola Normale Superiore
Breaking the mold: the changing modularity of protest forms during cycles of contention 

11th November 2025
Emanuela Lombardo | Scuola Normale Superiore
Do feminist institutional responses address the ‘anti-gender regime’? 

03th December 2025
Naoto Higuchi | School of Human Sciences, Waseda University 
Far-right Movements in Japan: Contrasting Repertoires of Contention between Far-right Lobbyists and Hate Groups