Lockdown Italia: orientalismo e liberismo come “nuove” ideologie

In spite of being perceived as scientific and technical issues, pandemics activate a debate that is ideology-laden because of its multifaced political implications. In this paper we argue that, in the face of the upheavals caused by Covid-19, a remarkable part of the political and media systems used narratives rooted in neo-nationalist and neo-liberal ideologies. On the one side, neo-nationalism is visible through portrays of stereotyped “others” in the mainstream media. On the other side, conservative politicians’ discourse about strategies to address the pandemic appears to be grounded on neo-liberalism. This contribution proposes an extension of the concept of orientalism as a possible key for understanding the construction of stereotyped representations of Italy and Italians during the lockdown. Furthermore, it claims that political positions and conflicts over pandemic measures are not random or dependent on individuals’ idiosyncrasy but they represent particular material interests and socio-cultural and ideological backgrounds. Narratives constructed in newspapers’ article are used through the paper to sustain these arguments.