Unifying and Multiplying the People: The Strategy of Ambiguity in National-Populist Discourse Within a Cross-Border Area

National-populist parties display a discourse based on the defense of the national integrity. However, in current European context, these parties have to deal with an increasing cultural heterogeneity, new forms of citizenship, multi-scaling arenas and shifting borders. How does national-populism develop its narratives in these settings? The paper elaborates a framework to understand the way in which ambiguity is included in national-populist’s discursive strategies. Through the critical discourse analysis approach, the contribution will focus on the analysis of the discourses produced by three populist parties located at the Swiss-Italian border (Lega dei Ticinesi, Unione democratica di centro, Lega Nord) on the occasion of the referendum campaign for the 2014 Swiss initiative “Against mass immigration”.