Welfare State Chauvinists? Gender, Citizenship, and Anti-democratic Politics in the Welfare State Paradise

Finnsdottir, Maria; Hallgrímsdóttir, Helga Kristín

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2018.00046

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 73 publications

(89 reference statements)

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“…The radical right takes up discourses of Nordic family and identity that effectively ban ethnic and sexual others, and fuse antifeminism and exclusionary nationalism (Norocel, 2010;. The Sweden Democrats advocate traditional family values and the maintenance of traditional social hierarchies and cultural practices, deriving from a concern with the family as a vehicle of cultural transmission (Finnsdottir and Hallgrimsdottir, 2019). Their concern for the preservation of culture and heritage is echoed in their family programme: they support various natalist policies, such as child allowances and doing away with 'use it or lose it' paternity leave, and idealise the heteronormative nuclear family (Sverigedemokraterna no date).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While a strong welfare state has traditionally been seen as a key factor depressing support for the radical right (see Swank and Betz, 2003), the rise of the Nordic radical right has not been slowed by the strong welfare states of the region, as the parties have instead repositioned themselves as defenders of the welfare state (Finnsdottir and Hallgrimsdottir, 2019). Interestingly, these parties have moved towards the centre on economic issues.…”

Section: The Nordic Radical Rightmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Radical women? Explaining the gender gap in radical right voting in the Nordic countries

Finnsdottir

2022

European Journal of Politics and Gender

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Recent decades have seen an electoral resurgence of radical right parties in Europe. Despite their international reputations as gender-egalitarian welfare paradises, the Nordic nations are no exception to this trend. While Nordic radical right movements have appropriated gender-egalitarian language, the leadership and voting bases of these parties remains overwhelmingly male. The gender gap is generally understood as a reflection of gender differences in structural location and in values. This article examines the importance of attitudinal and structural influences on voting behaviour for men and women. I highlight the role of anti-immigrant sentiment, while also arguing that gender differences in voter demand for radical right politics are intimately linked to differences in party supply. In short, I endeavour to provide a nuanced view of the gender gap in radical right voting, while nonetheless highlighting the importance of anti-immigrant sentiment in radical right politics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Nordic Radical Rightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radical women? Explaining the gender gap in radical right voting in the Nordic countries

Finnsdottir

2022

European Journal of Politics and Gender

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“…The power of the economic austerity narratives that took hold after the GFC can, at some level, be seen by examining social and political changes in European Union nations that were the least affected by the financial crisis, such as Sweden and Norway (Finnsdottir and Hallgrimsdottir, 2019 ). Both of these nations have seen a resurgence in support for right-wing populist parties with anti-immigration agendas, in spite of not having suffered the kind of economic set-back that has fuelled the rise of left- and right-wing populism in Greece, France, Spain, and Italy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Austerity Talk and Crisis Narratives: Memory Politics, Xenophobia, and Citizenship in the European Union

2020

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The focus in this paper is on understanding the complex intersections between crises and memory politics in shaping conversations about citizenship through an examination of the two defining crises of our time: the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008 and the migrant crisis in the European Union (starting in 2011 and continuing). The paper looks at these crises as narrative devices that intersect with memory politics in ways that heighten and intensify xenophobic and nationalist anxieties. The paper's discussion is primarily theoretical, complemented with evidence drawn from public statements and policy platforms of three key right-wing Eurosceptic parties in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany (the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), the Rassemblement National (RN), and the Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD).

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“…The strategy of promoting a right-wing populist agenda as oriented towards redistribution and catering to the needs of marginalized groups is not a new invention. As early as the 1990s right-wing populist parties in Western Europe employed welfare chauvinist positions to mobilize their constituencies ( Andersen and Bjørklund, 1990 ; Eger and Valdez, 2015 ; Finnsdottir and Hallgrimsdottir, 2019 ; Norocel, 2016 ). They were building their popularity on promises of safety-net programmes available only to legal residents, while excluding immigrants and other minorities, such as Roma, from access to state-sponsored health care, housing or childcare ( Kitschelt and McGann, 1997 ).…”

Section: “Family Values” Rhetoric and Welfare Chauvinismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These spending regimes would be both generous and highly restrictive, employing a “racist-authoritarian strategy” while “studiously stay[ing] away from an admiration of market-liberal capitalism” ( Kitschelt and McGann, 1997 : 22). Recent scholarship examines this dynamic in countries such as Sweden, where the Sweden Democrats claim that due to the influx of immigrants the Scandinavian welfare state is in danger and needs to be protected from the outsiders ( Finnsdottir and Hallgrimsdottir, 2019 : 2). In post-socialist context, on the other hand, the pro-family propaganda of the anti-gender movement has been effective because in the times of rapid and brutal economic transformation the family was experienced by many as the last frontier of social solidarity, a safe haven against aggressive capitalism, precarity, exploitation and alienation (e.g.…”

Section: “Family Values” Rhetoric and Welfare Chauvinismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Open forum: The politics of gender (research) in a global pandemic

Dahl¹

2022

European Journal of Women's Studies

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It goes without saying at this point: we are living in a world plagued by multiple pandemic viruses, both ideological and infectious, with deep implications for feminist livelihoods, research and teaching. Conservative, fascist and nationalist movements, institutions and parties continue their vicious attacks on gender research, on anti-racist, feminist and LGBTQ + movements, and along with certain strands of "feminism" are calling the very meaning of "gender" itself into question. In addition, and perhaps more obviously, over the last nearly two years, the world has been transformed by another man-made pandemic with deeply gendered consequences. Indeed, already in April of 2020, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres noted that "across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex." 1 While Secretary General Guterres' observation about structural inequality is no more news to feminist researchers than the problem that gave rise to #metoo a few years back, we also know that "sex" is hardly a simple matter or virtue. Indeed, just like anti-gender movements target some bodies more than others, it is clear that while we may all run the risk of catching the infamous corona virus, the impact and effects of this pandemic are hardly universal. The North and West remain in focus of news reporting and strategies and global corporations and powerful nations control access to and profits from the vaccine. Europe and its nations continue to report deeply gendered, classed, and racialized inequalities in terms of exposure, illness, precarity and vaccine rates, to name only a few.The pandemic has affected the personal and professional health and well-being of scholars in diverse ways to be sure, and they depend on personal and structural location, family situation and levels of job (in)security, among other factors. Yet, as we "return to work", it seems that, on the whole, academics in Europe have largely faced a number of inconveniences as we have had to adjust our teaching and research practices and link our home dwellings to the corporate-owned communication systems that universities now rely on. As European nations move in the direction of "going back" many of us reflecting

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Welfare State Chauvinists? Gender, Citizenship, and Anti-democratic Politics in the Welfare State Paradise

Cited by 5 publications

References 73 publications

Radical women? Explaining the gender gap in radical right voting in the Nordic countries

Radical women? Explaining the gender gap in radical right voting in the Nordic countries

Austerity Talk and Crisis Narratives: Memory Politics, Xenophobia, and Citizenship in the European Union

Open forum: The politics of gender (research) in a global pandemic

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