Beyond the Rhetoric of Revanchism Towards the Metropolitan Core: An Analysis of Symbolic Representations of Milan From Its Peripheries

Abstract

Socio-political research has shown that in metropolitan peripheries, populist parties have gained significant support. This is because these parties capitalise on a widespread feeling of exclusion, leading to a revanchist social representation of affluent metropolitan centres. This article contributes to the debate on metropolitan dynamics by exploring the social representations of the centre–periphery relationship, showing how symbolic representations play a role in shaping codes of action and revanchism alone is insufficient to understand the core–periphery relationship. Four suburbs with similar socioeconomic characteristics in the functional urban area of Milan were selected. Milan is the most important Italian metropolis, and it has a relevant socio-political fracture. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to analyse the cultural meanings of living on the periphery among local leaders. The metropolitan centre is perceived as necessary, evoking ‘efficient’ representations; however, these peripheral contexts are meaningful places of belonging. This article shows that an analysis of the dynamics at work at the metropolitan level should consider peripheral contexts.