There is evidence that the number of European women joining or voting for populist radical-Right parties, and more broadly far-Right movements, is growing. With the mainstreaming of radical-Right politics, these parties have brought immigration and identity issues into public debate and some, such as the Lega Nord (re-branded Lega in 2018), have even held office. But why are women joining parties that oppose gender equality? Does this political behaviour stand in conflict with their gendered interests? And are these women activists victims of ‘false consciousness’ or ‘sexual alienation’?
In the mainstream, these women are often dismissed as apolitical actors who follow their partners, are ‘puppets’ of male activists, or are driven by an attachment to ‘traditional family values’. But these interpretations are highly questionable, especially given that these women activists may be difficult to reach, and that scholars have disproportionately investigated ideology rather than activists’ experiences, which remain largely unmapped.
To answer these questions I interviewed a number of women who joined the Front National in France and Lega in Italy and it was clear to me that they were not ‘dupes’, as the dominant view suggests, but gender-conscious political actors who willingly join these parties, with gendered interests rooted in their experiences of the family and work.
