Many observers have pointed out that in the western countries the emergence of the new populism has a strong territorial connotation, to the point that the urban-rural and centre-periphery cleavages are returning to the limelight of the analysis. The territorial reading of the phenomenon is probably much more complex, but the hypothesis of this contribution is that even in Italy there is a rural variant of the new populism. Through the theoretical approach of recognition inequalities, the paper wants to highlight how in the Italian rural areas there is a strong demand for de-stigmatization, which finds in populist rhetoric the ability to collect specific instances of recognition and protection coming from the countryside. The different declinations of the rural dimension of the recognition are explored starting from the analysis of the content of the materials produced as part of the implementation of a public policy dedicated to the development of the most peripheral areas of our country: the National Strategy for Inner Areas.
