'We Don’t Want You!': The Movement-party Dynamics of Anti-immigration Cooperation in EU Member States

The recent immigration crisis has undoubtedly flared tempers between citizens in Western European countries. Anti-immigration discourse became a long-term burning issue dominating the public sphere and creating a clear line of division between two large camps – one aiming to alleviate the life struggles of immigrants, and the other clearly stating that immigrants are more than unwelcome on European soil. The latter group is leaded dominantly by movements and parties, which play a serious part in shaping both domestic and European politics. This paper will focus on the relationship between right-wing movements and extreme right parties in Western European countries, which favour a strong anti-immigrant and anti-European discourse, focusing on the dynamics of cooperation between the two types of groups in the midst of the immigration crisis in the European Union. Is there a strong visible cooperation between movements and parties regarding anti-immigration policies? Are protest events jointly organized by the two types of groups? These are just some questions whose clarification can shed light on this intriguing dynamics. We plan to focus on the cooperation between the Lega Nord and CasaPound in Italy, as well as the Front National’s relationship with the Action Française in Italy. The two movement-party relationship comparison will look for similarities in the anti-immigration issues dynamics. As our primary data sources we will use in-depth interviews with movement activists and party members (if available) as well as analysis of documents available on the Internet.