“Ethnic Replacement”. Unfortunate Expression or Unacceptable Supremacism? An Interdisciplinary Approach to a Case Study in Italian Political Discourse

On April 19, 2023, Italian newspapers published an article titled “Meno migranti, più figli. No alla sostituzione etnica” (“Fewer migrants, more children. No to ethnic replacement”), based on statements made by the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida. This gained immediate traction in the Anglophone foreign press, with The Telegraph publishing an article on the same day: “Italy risks ‘ethnic replacement’ because of low birth rate and high immigration, says minister”. This study analyzes comments from April 19–26 on Italian and English digital news outlets and the related social media profiles. The perspective is strongly interdisciplinary, approaching the collection and study of journalistic data from both communicative and linguistic viewpoints, comparing occurrences in Italian and English. A pedagogical evaluation of the role of language in describing migration dynamics and their socio-cultural implications completes the picture, suggesting interventions to enhance awareness and self-awareness of communicative strategies.