Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

The Five Star Movement And The Rise Of ‘Techno-Populist’ Parties

Chris Bickerton 28th May 2018

Chris Bickerton

Chris Bickerton

I think 20th century ideological schemes are no longer adequate. It’s more important to evaluate a political force based on how they are positioned on fundamental rights and freedom… And their ability to outline useful platforms for citizens.

This is not the sort of statement one would expect from the Prime Minister of a government formed out of two populist political forces that are sending shock waves throughout the European Union. Yet it comes from Giuseppe Conte, the Italian law professor put forward by both the Five Star Movement and the League as their chosen candidate for Prime Minister of Italy. On 23 May, the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, accepted his nomination. We are now observing a striking paradox in Italy: populist parties nominating technocrats as leading members of their government.

If we consider the Five Star Movement (M5S) more closely, the paradox disappears. To think of the M5S as a simple populist party misses much of what makes it distinctive and original as a political movement. Certainly, the populist label is warranted. If populism involves mobilising the opposition between the political establishment and ‘the people’, then the M5S is firmly in this tradition. It has used “la casta” as a political lightning rod, as a way of stigmatising what its members see as the self-serving actions of an entire political class. Its founder, the comedian Beppe Grillo, has stated on many occasions that political parties are “evil”. He built his career as both comedian and political figure on the unshakeable belief that the Italian political system is rotten to the core.

And yet, to think of the M5S as no more than an anti-establishment howl of rage is a mistake. More than just an organ of denunciation, the M5S has advanced a detailed vision of political reform, centred on expanding direct forms of citizen involvement and on exploiting opportunities provided by the internet and wireless communication. Since gaining access to the Italian parliament in May 2013, M5S deputies have submitted more than 1,500 legislative proposals over a period of three years. A central part of their manifesto in the March elections of 2018 was the “citizen’s income” of 780 euros a month, destined for all Italian citizens who satisfy a certain set of conditions.

Post-ideology

All political parties stand for a range of concrete policy proposals. What is distinctive about the M5S is the way it presents its policies as pragmatic solutions to very concrete problems. There is no attempt to nest its policies within a self-consciously ideological vision for society as a whole. On the contrary, the M5S thinks of itself as post-ideological, as beyond left and right.

Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content.


We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you!

Please check your inbox and click on the link in the confirmation email to complete your newsletter subscription.

.

The M5S name is illustrative. The five stars do not point to organising principles or values. They refer to issues that are remarkably dry, technical and even apolitical: water, the environment, transport, connectivity and development. This preference for a technical rather than a political approach has shaped the behaviour of M5S deputies. In the words of the M5S blog, “if a law is good, we vote for it, if it is bad we do not vote for it”.

Competence and expertise is at the core of the M5S. Back in 2013, the Movement selected candidates in primary elections by obliging them to upload their CVs, a move which has ironically played out in the “CV-gate” row provoked by Guiseppe Conte’s nomination. This problem-solving approach is at the heart of the M5S’s interest in the internet and it was the basis for the vision of the internet put forward by another of the M5S’s founders, Gianroberto Casaleggio. What mattered about the internet for Casaleggio was its capacity to harness the collective intelligence of mankind in order to solve global problems like climate change and economic crisis. The M5S’s faith in technology is based on its epistemic qualities, on technology’s ability to advance what we know in order to solve the most intractable problems.

The M5S stands for a curious blend of technocracy and populism. Far from being hostile to pragmatic attempts at problem-solving, the M5S incarnates this approach. However, instead of believing that competence is concentrated within a select group of self-appointed experts, the M5S locates expertise within society itself. The M5S stands for the transformation of all citizens into experts, a move that integrates technocratic and populist elements into a single political offer.

Italian politics will continue to surprise all those who follow it, inside Italy and outside. But we should not be surprised by the way the M5S blends populism with technocracy. The M5S is a “techno-populist” party, a kind of political party that we are seeing emerge across Europe, from La République En Marche in France to Ciudadanos in Spain. As appeals to left and right fade away from our politics, appeals to the people and appeals to expertise take the fore. The M5S is an expression of this more fundamental change in our politics.

This article draws on the author’s recent paper in Contemporary Italian Politics, co-authored with Carlo Invernizzi Accetti.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

This post originally appeared on the European Politics and Policy (LSE) blog. Image: Giuseppe Conte, Credit: Presidenza della Repubblica (Public Domain)

Chris Bickerton

Chris Bickerton is a Reader in Modern European Politics at Cambridge University.

Home ・ Politics ・ The Five Star Movement And The Rise Of ‘Techno-Populist’ Parties

Most Popular Posts

schools,Sweden,Swedish,voucher,choice Sweden’s schools: Milton Friedman’s wet dreamLisa Pelling
world order,Russia,China,Europe,United States,US The coming world orderMarc Saxer
south working,remote work ‘South working’: the future of remote workAntonio Aloisi and Luisa Corazza
Russia,Putin,assets,oligarchs Seizing the assets of Russian oligarchsBranko Milanovic
Russians,support,war,Ukraine Why do Russians support the war against Ukraine?Svetlana Erpyleva

Most Recent Posts

trade,values,Russia,Ukraine,globalisation Peace and trade—a new perspectiveGustav Horn
biodiversity,COP15,China,climate COP15: negotiations must come out of the shadowsSandrine Maljean-Dubois
reproductive rights,abortion,hungary,eastern europe,united states,us,poland The uneven battlefield of reproductive rightsAndrea Pető
LNG,EIB,liquefied natural gas,European Investment Bank Ukraine is no reason to invest in gasXavier Sol
schools,Sweden,Swedish,voucher,choice Sweden’s schools: Milton Friedman’s wet dreamLisa Pelling

Other Social Europe Publications

The transatlantic relationship
Women and the coronavirus crisis
RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?
US election 2020
Corporate taxation in a globalised era

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

EU Care Atlas: a new interactive data map showing how care deficits affect the gender earnings gap in the EU

Browse through the EU Care Atlas, a new interactive data map to help uncover what the statistics are often hiding: how care deficits directly feed into the gender earnings gap.

While attention is often focused on the gender pay gap (13%), the EU Care Atlas brings to light the more worrisome and complex picture of women’s economic inequalities. The pay gap is just one of three main elements that explain the overall earnings gap, which is estimated at 36.7%. The EU Care Atlas illustrates the urgent need to look beyond the pay gap and understand the interplay between the overall earnings gap and care imbalances.


BROWSE THROUGH THE MAP

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Towards a new Minimum Wage Policy in Germany and Europe: WSI minimum wage report 2022

The past year has seen a much higher political profile for the issue of minimum wages, not only in Germany, which has seen fresh initiatives to tackle low pay, but also in those many other countries in Europe that have embarked on substantial and sustained increases in statutory minimum wages. One key benchmark in determining what should count as an adequate minimum wage is the threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage, a ratio that has also played a role in the European Commission's proposals for an EU-level policy on minimum wages. This year's WSI Minimum Wage Report highlights the feasibility of achieving minimum wages that meet this criterion, given the political will. And with an increase to 12 euro per hour planned for autumn 2022, Germany might now find itself promoted from laggard to minimum-wage trailblazer.


FREE DOWNLOAD

ETUI advertisement

Bilan social / Social policy in the EU: state of play 2021 and perspectives

The new edition of the Bilan social 2021, co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), reveals that while EU social policy-making took a blow in 2020, 2021 was guided by the re-emerging social aspirations of the European Commission and the launch of several important initiatives. Against the background of Covid-19, climate change and the debate on the future of Europe, the French presidency of the Council of the EU and the von der Leyen commission must now be closely scrutinised by EU citizens and social stakeholders.


AVAILABLE HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Living and working in Europe 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic continued to be a defining force in 2021, and Eurofound continued its work of examining and recording the many and diverse impacts across the EU. Living and working in Europe 2021 provides a snapshot of the changes to employment, work and living conditions in Europe. It also summarises the agency’s findings on issues such as gender equality in employment, wealth inequality and labour shortages. These will have a significant bearing on recovery from the pandemic, resilience in the face of the war in Ukraine and a successful transition to a green and digital future.


AVAILABLE HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us on social media

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube