The paradox of ontological security in far-right narratives and the securitization of identified alterities: the cases of Spain and Italy

Abstract

Nationalistic far-right discourse promises to restore and defend the nation against identified alterities, which they blame for a supposed lost “national authenticity.” An analysis of the paradoxical claims of the Italian and Spanish far-right parties in 2022 and 2023 examines how discourses of ontological insecurities are presented as threats posed by alterities to national majorities. The article claims that sometimes these discourses are mixed with securitization moves, but at times there is evident separation between the two processes. Among what the far-right identifies as alterities, political and cultural adversaries are blamed for national ontological insecurity: the US liberal system, religious minorities, the EU, and migration. The findings illustrate that the far-right uses a catch-all strategy on all these themes through the usage of paradoxical claims in their discourse. Through the analysis, it becomes evident that the scapegoating of alterities is crucial to identify when ontological insecurity is indeed connected to the spiraling of the securitization process and particularly to how it allows the far-right to prosper.