David Barnes

David Barnes is an expert in literary and cultural history, with a particular interest in nationalism and fascism. He has held full-time academic posts at Birmingham and Oxford universities. In 2016-17, he was the Lillian Gary Taylor visiting fellow in American literature at the University of Virginia. His work is increasingly engaged with medical and environmental history, and the space of overlap between political, cultural, literary and scientific discourses. Barnes regularly writes for a London-based radio production company, Cast Iron. He is currently producing a series for BBC Radio 3.
When Angry Words Become Violent Actions

When Angry Words Become Violent Actions

November 14, 2019

In February 1909, a strange new manifesto appeared, first in the Bologna-based Italian- language newspaper Gazzetta dell’ Emiliana, and then in French in Le Figaro. Readers of the declaration might have struggled to work out whether the manifesto was political or aesthetic in character. In the past, the celebrated manifestos...

The Transformation of the Northern League

The Transformation of the Northern League

August 21, 2018

The trajectory of Italy’s Northern League party is a case study of the complex ways in which perceptions of regional, national and ethnic identity operates in the contemporary politics of the radical right. If you visited Venice in the spring of 2006 during the Italian elections, you could see billboards...