Gender and Extremism

Gender dimensions are integral to extremism, but how to untangle and make sense of the ways in which gender intersects with the many dimensions of extremist actors, organizations and movements is not necessarily evident. Our aim is to better understand how notions of gender identities, values, norms and behaviors frame views and ideologies. We aim to examine the roles of men and women alike, and the extent to which gendered norms and values become an axis for differing political identifications, and outcomes.

While the interconnection between gender and extremist movements is a strong focus in both reporting and research, we see that the strongest policy engagement in this field is linked to women’s roles in potential de-radicalization efforts. While we see the value in focusing on the interconnectedness with gender and prevention measures, we also see a need to broaden the understanding and ask how gender dimensions intersect on multiple levels of engagement as well as dis-engagement and what this means for in-group and out-group identification and conceptualization.

Key questions

• To what extent do gender analyses enhance our understand extremism?
• In what ways are notions of gender roles or femininity/masculinity a key part of extreme ideologies, including the  construction of heroes and enemies?
• What is the role of masculinity and femininity in processes of engagement disengagement?
• How do conceptualizations of gender affect policy recommendations and outcomes?

Ongoing projects

• Conceptualization of Gender in the Countering/Preventing Violent Extremism (C/PVE) literature
• The Role of Gender in anti-Islamist Discourses on Cyber Space  
• TradLife, TradWife: Women of the Alt-Right

Relevant publications

• Gender and family rhetoric on the German far right, Katrine Fangen & Lisanne Lichtenberg (2021), Patterns of Prejudice

• Editorial: Special Issue on Gender and the Far Right, Katrine Fangen & Inger Skjelsbæk (2020), Politics, Religion & Ideology, vol. 21, no. 4.

• Gendered images of us and them in anti-Islamic Facebook groups, Katrine Fangen (2020), Politics, Religion & Ideology, vol. 21, no. 4.

• Hopes and misguided expectations: How policy documents frame gender in terrorism and violent extremism prevention efforts, Inger Skjelsbæk, Julie Marie Hansen & Jenny K. Lorentzen (2020), Politics, Religion & Ideology, vol. 21, no. 4.

• Researching the Far Right - Theory, Method and Practice edited by Stephen D. Ashe, Joel Busher, Graham Macklin and Aaron Winter
• An observational study of the Norwegian far right: some reflections. Katrine Fangen. Chapter in the book Researching the Far Right. Theory, Method and Practice. Routledge, 2020
• Hindutva as a variant of right-wing extremism by Eviane Leidig
• In pursuit of purity: populist nationalism and the racialization of difference av Cathrine Thorleifsson
• The battle for truth: How online newspaper commenters defend their censored expressions by Katrine Fangen and Carina Riborg Holter
• The Swedish dystopia: violent imaginaries of the radical right
  by Cathrine Thorleifsson

Bibliographies

• Gender and Masculinity in Far-Right Extremism