The New Women of the Right: How the Far Right Has Waged the Gender War in France

Today in Europe, extreme and radical right-wing parties are enjoying electoral success. Their demands are visible in the media, while social networks give them unprecedented visibility. Women, who have long been resistant to these parties and their ideas, now vote like men, are actively involved and have become their figureheads. As leaders or influencers, they are revamping the party’s style and communication. In this year’s Voltaire-lecture, Magali Della Sudda shares her insights on this development.

The working languages of this programme are French and English. Della Sudda’s French-language lecture will be accompanied by English surtitles. The interview and Q&A will be in English.

In her book Les Nouvelles femmes de droite, political scientist Magali Della Sudda has shown how a new generation of female activists emerged in the 2010s to take up the cultural battle over gender issues. 

In her Voltaire-lecture on the role of women and gender politics in right-wing movements, Della Sudda will look back on the ‘Manif pour Tous’ (the French protest against same-sex marriage in 2012), highlight the diversity of female engagement on the right, and make the connection with similar developments in the Netherlands and Europe. Sociologist Sarah Bracke will respond to the lecture with insights from her own research on the politics of gender and sexuality.

Speakers

Magali Della Sudda is a Research Director in Political Science at the Émile Durkheim Centre in Bordeaux. A specialist in mobilisation and gender, she is coordinating the collective survey conducted since 2018 among the Yellow Vests. Her book Les Nouvelles femmes de droite (Hors d’atteinte, 2022) sheds light on the renewal of women’s activism against feminists over the last decade. 

Sarah Bracke is Professor of Sociology of Gender and Sexuality at the University of Amsterdam. Her main research activities are situated at the intersection of gender and sexuality, religion and secularity, and culture and race, with a theoretical focus on questions of agency, subjectivity, and governmentality and a regional focus on Europe. 

Emily Shuman (moderator) is Assistant Professor of Francophone cultures at Radboud University Nijmegen. Her research focuses on contemporary popular culture, in particular rap, and political protest.