CAS SEE Seminars with Guests: Jacobo Custodi on “Radical Left Parties and National Identity” in conversation with the RECAS Fellow Karlo Kralj

The seminar focused on the recent book “Radical Left Parties and National Identity in Spain, Italy and Portugal” (Palgrave 2024) by Jacopo Custodi. The book investigates how the radical left navigates the terrain of nationalism. Traversing Spain, Italy, and Portugal, this in-depth study examines how radical left parties either embrace, rebuff, or reshape nationalistic sentiments. From Spain’s Podemos grappling with Franco’s legacy, Italy’s radical left switching from anti-fascist patriotism to cosmopolitanism, to Portugal’s revolutionary echoes in left-leaning banal nationalism, the book offers a comprehensive insight into the often-overlooked relationship between radical left politics and national identity. Through discourse analysis, interviews, and participant observation, it delves into the reasons behind certain political positions and how they manifest discursively. In the discussion, we tried to relate these comparative insights with specific predicaments of contemporary new left in Southeast European contexts.