Photo: Gefjon Off

Reviews Contested Feminism

Gefjon Off, Contested Feminism: Backlash and the Radical Right (Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, September 15, 2023): Public defense of doctoral dissertation. External opponent: Professor Elisabeth Ivarsflaten, Department of Government, University of Bergen.

Published on balticworlds.com on September 15, 2023

Gefjon Off, Contested Feminism: Backlash and the Radical Right (Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, September 15, 2023): Public defense of doctoral dissertation. External opponent: Professor Elisabeth Ivarsflaten, Department of Government, University of Bergen.

In recent years, we have witnessed both feminist mobilizations and antifeminist counter-mobilizations in many countries, the latter being partly driven by radical-right parties. (People who strongly oppose or counter-react against progressive gender and sexuality issues tend to vote for radical right-wing parties.) Hungary, Poland and the US during Trump are examples of countries where distinctly antifeminist policies have been implemented, in the form of abortion restrictions or laws that for all practical purposes entail discrimination against LGBTQ people. Furthermore, even in relatively advanced societies, like Sweden and Germany[1], feminism has become a point of contestation. In her doctoral thesis (Contested Feminism: Backlash and the Radical Right, University of Gothenburg, 2023), political scientist Gefjon Off has investigated the contested nature of contemporary feminism across different European contexts.[2]

The compilation thesis includes five papers. The first of these (”For Every Action a Reaction? The Polarizing Effects of Women’s Rights and Refugee Immigration”) was unpublished when the book was printed, and the point of the paper is to examine the conservative/liberal polarization over feminism and refugee immigration. The second paper was published in West European Politics: ”Gender Equality Salience, Backlash and Radical Right Voting in the Gender-Equal Context of Sweden”. The third paper was published in Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society: ”Complexities and Nuances in Radical Right Voters’ (Anti)Feminism”, and the fourth paper – ”Who Perceives Women’s Rights as Threatening to Men and Boys? Explaining Modern Sexism among Young Men in Europe” – was published in Frontiers in Political Science. The fifth and final paper was also an unpublished manuscript at the time of the defense: ”Multidimensional and Intersectional Cultural Grievances over Gender, Sexuality and Immigration”. Multiple methods are used in the papers, including both quantitative (statistical) analyses and qualitative analyses. In some of the papers, the comparative analysis is based on opinion surveys across all EU member states, in others, the single-case analyses are based on interviews.

Gefjon Off thus contributes to both research on an antifeminist cultural backlash as well as radical right voting. In the thesis, two countries are singled out for more in-depth analyses, Sweden and Germany. In the former, antifeminist orientations are frequently associated with Sweden Democrat voters; in Germany, the main right-wing populist party is Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Like others in family of European radical right parties, AfD is a distinctly Eurosceptic and anti-immigration (or anti-Muslim). However, when it comes to attitudes towards gender issues, AfD is somewhat atypical. The party is strongest in the parts of Germany that encompassed the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The East German communist regime (1949–1990) strongly promoted gender equality in the labour market, childcare and abortion rights. This GDR heritage is still visible in prevailing norms in present-say eastern Germany.

When it comes to the typical radical-right voter in the EU, Gefjon Off presents an empirically grounded demographic profile: in addition to opposing progressive gender and sexuality issues, they tend to distrust institutions. They tend to be men. They tend to live in regions with increasing unemployment. They tend not to care for immigration. They particularly oppose gender and sexuality issues that are salient in the public debate and evoke threat perceptions.[3]

Contested Feminism meets all the criteria for a high-quality dissertation. It is a solid piece of work that clearly demonstrates Off’s ability to independently apply relevant theories to different types of data/material, and she is exemplary in introducing her research questions, explaining the research methods, and presenting her results and conclusions. It would have been interesting to see a longer conceptual discussion, relating to the key concept (“backlash”) and how it is measured. Here, it is understood as substantial agreement to antifeminist statements (in public opinion surveys). Other aspects of such a backlash are of course possible as well. But the overall impression is that the thesis is impressive. A brief overview like this does in no way do full justice to the thesis; there are several interesting and sometimes counter-intuitive findings in Off’s thesis that merit further reflections. For example, Off finds, perhaps contrary to popular belief, that the older generation in the EU are generally not opposing more gender equality; such sentiments are rather found among young males (aged between 18 and 29 years). This would indicate that young men tend to consider gender equality a zero-sum game; advances in women’s rights supposedly come at their expense.

References

[1] Since 2009, Rainbow Europe ranks countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTI people (from 0-100 per cent), by examining the situation when it comes to eg. equality and non-discrimination, hate crime and hate speech, and legal gender recognition. In the 2023 ranking, Germany scored 55 per cent, and Sweden 69 per cent. Both countries are thus to be found somewhere in the middle/upper part of the scale. See: https://www.ilga-europe.org/report/rainbow-europe-2023/ (May 11, 2023).

[2] Gefjon Off, Contested Feminism: Backlash and the Radical Right (Department of Political Science, Gothenburg University).

[3] This is close to the conventional image of voters of far-right populist parties: poorly educated men with limited prospects in the labour market, typically lacking trust in political institutions and discontented with liberal democracy. Drawing on data from the European Social Survey (2002-2018), Daphne Halikiopoulou and Sofia Vasilopoulou have challenged this notion, and highlighted the multifaceted nature of the far-right populist appeal to voters. Moreover, certain individuals who evaluate the democratic process positively may also vote for the far right. See: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/the-myth-of-the-typical-far-right-populist-voter/ (June 13, 2023).

Joakim Ekman