‘Talking about’ the far right and common sense. A case study of Matteo Salvini’s buon senso trope on Twitter (2018–2023)

Abstract

Between 2018 and 2023, Matteo Salvini, leader of Italian far right party Lega per Salvini Premier, depicted his policies as ‘common sense’ via Twitter. While far right actors frequently frame their politics as common sense, the role of this discourse in the mainstreaming of the far right via social media remains largely under-examined. This article addresses this gap in the literature by combining a Gramscian-inspired dyad of senso comune v buon senso (common sense v good sense), and recent discursive approaches to mainstreaming, with the general orientation of the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) to Critical Discourse Studies (CDS). Viewing Salvini’s use of a buon senso trope over a five-year period through this conceptual and analytical lens reveals how it constituted a form of ‘talking about’ the far right, i.e. a self-referential strategy aiming to bring far right politics closer to the mainstream.