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Right-Wing Populism and Gender

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The Palgrave Handbook of Populism

Abstract

In established right-wing populism (RWP) research, gender is an ‘understudied’ category. Although there is a conspicuously high number of leading female figures and the RWP party platforms show a particular ‘obsession with gender,’ only a few related issues draw attention: voting behavior of women and the question of whether these are ‘male parties.’ The article aims to present the still small but growing field of alternative gender-sensitive research on RWP. In addition to studies related to European countries, the new research focuses on intersectional connections of gendered RWP with Neoliberalism, anti-immigration, racism, sexual politics, and affect. It is noteworthy that the RWP polemic against ‘gender ideology’ is not only about re-traditionalizing the family. It is also a tool for meta-politics, alliance building, and boundary drawing. Anti-feminism, homo- and trans-phobia has the epistemic benefit to preserve and enforce a naturalized and hierarchical order by asserting the existence of two (and only two) biologically determined sexes. The populist political understanding of people-as-one leaves no room for the justice demands of individual discriminated groups because they disturb the fantasies of unity. An understanding of people-as-many, however, as represented in intersectional queer Feminism and research, can counter the RWP challenge.

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  1. Institut für Europäische Ethnologie, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

    Gabriele Dietze

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    Michael Oswald

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Dietze, G. (2022). Right-Wing Populism and Gender. In: Oswald, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Populism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80803-7_16

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