This chapter examines the immigration discourse produced by major Italian centre-left parties in opposition to the Meloni government, focusing on the migrant centres established in Albania between 2023 and 2024. Unlike previous chapters, which addressed right-wing populist actors, the analysis shifts to the counter-discursive and delegitimising strategies adopted by the opposition. Drawing on a digital ethnography of social media, the chapter analyses a corpus of posts published between 2023 and 2025, selecting the most representative content from key political actors. Using a qualitative and multimodal approach, it identifies the main argumentative structures employed to criticise the Italy–Albania agreement. Findings show that centre-left discourse relies primarily on three recurring topoi: economic cost (waste of public resources), ineffectiveness, and references to legality and human rights. However, these strategies are largely reactive and fail to produce a genuinely alternative frame. Moreover, communicative forms such as memes, irony, and ridicule often mirror those of right-wing populism.

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Third Case Study: Contesting Externalization—Centre-Left Counter-Discourses on the Italy

  • Dario Lucchesi

摘要

This chapter examines the immigration discourse produced by major Italian centre-left parties in opposition to the Meloni government, focusing on the migrant centres established in Albania between 2023 and 2024. Unlike previous chapters, which addressed right-wing populist actors, the analysis shifts to the counter-discursive and delegitimising strategies adopted by the opposition. Drawing on a digital ethnography of social media, the chapter analyses a corpus of posts published between 2023 and 2025, selecting the most representative content from key political actors. Using a qualitative and multimodal approach, it identifies the main argumentative structures employed to criticise the Italy–Albania agreement. Findings show that centre-left discourse relies primarily on three recurring topoi: economic cost (waste of public resources), ineffectiveness, and references to legality and human rights. However, these strategies are largely reactive and fail to produce a genuinely alternative frame. Moreover, communicative forms such as memes, irony, and ridicule often mirror those of right-wing populism.