Democracy Must Be Defended: Anti-Terror Laws, Islamism, Islamophobia and the Neo-Fascist Exception

Abstract

Since 9/11 and the ensuing start of the War on Terror, there has not been a single 'Islamist' terrorist attack in Italy, unlike in other European countries. Yet Italian counter-terrorism policies frame terrorism exclusively as a product of Islamist ideology, excluding any other threats, such as those posed by fascist ideology.
This article seeks to examine the ways in which Islamism and neo-fascism are respectively criminalised as anti-democratic terrorist threats or, alternatively, exempted from interdiction in the Italian political and juridical spheres.
The purpose of this study is twofold. First, through a comparative analysis the conflicting application of anti-terrorism laws and the laws against glorification of fascism, I will explore the degree of ideological and political normalisation of neo-fascism in contemporary Italy. Second, I intend to open a debate on the implementation of the right to freedom of expression in liberal democracies. My goal is to investigate whether its exercise by social actors, particularly members of minorities, can be influenced by racial power relations and, conversely, I consider whether its use as a weapon against minorities may constitute a significant threat to democracy.