Localizzare i diritti, selezionare i «meritevoli». La Lega tra welfare chauvinism e politiche locali discriminatorie

In recent years, the debate on populist radical right (PRR) parties has increasingly emphasised the subnational level as a key arena for implementing exclusionary policies, particularly in the realm of welfare nationalism. While local governance is often framed as a domain of pragmatism and technical administration, it can also become a vehicle for highly ideological policies that restrict access to social rights basing on nationality. This article examines a case in a medium-sized city in northern Italy governed by the Lega party, where changes to school transport and canteen regulations de facto excluded children of non-European origin, triggering widespread civil society mobilisation. Based on a six-month ethnographic study, the analysis examines how PRR parties instrumentalise welfare policies to redefine the «legitimate population». More broadly, the paper contributes to the debate on the crisis of liberal democracy by highlighting the erosion of fundamental principles such as equality and universalism, as well as the growing polarisation between exclusionary governance and progressive segments of civil society mobilising against institutional racism.