All over the world the rise of conservative, hard right and illiberal politics seem to threaten the progress in gender equality in the past decades and the return of traditional gender hierarchies. ‘Traditional’ female roles (‘tradwives’) and masculine role models are ubiquitous on social media and other internetfora. On first sight, it is all the more surprising that many women are active in these hard right movements and ideologies, be it as party leaders (for instance Georgia Meloni, Marine LePen, Kemi Badenoch) or influencers (Eva Vlaardingenbroek). In our workshop we will explore the role of women in conservative political movements since the nineteenth century. To what extent is female involvement in right wing, nationalist and conservative movements a new phenomenon or can longer patterns and lineages be discerned? What were and are the motivations of women to take part in these movements and what are their strategies? Do they participate despite or because of the often explicitly patriarchal and masculinist rhetoric of these movements? How should we evaluate the impact female involvement has on right wing political movements?
In this workshop we aim to bring together approaches from the study of conservatism and the (radical) right with insights from gender and women’s history and politics. Our main focus is Europe and the countries that form today the European Union, but global perspectives are also welcome.
Specific topics (not limitative)
- What is conservatism from a gender perspective?
- Feminism and conservative women
- The body as a political instrument
- Anti-feminism (from the 1870s onwards) and anti-gender
- The role and impact of media and sociability
Organisers: Josephine Hoegaerts (University of Amsterdam), Henk de Smaele (University of Antwerp) and Matthijs Lok (University of Amsterdam): contact: [email protected]
Speakers and programme: The programme of the workshop consists of a combination of invited speakers and an open Call for Papers. We are looking for senior and junior researchers who would like to give a short presentation (15 minutes) on a topic related to the role of women in conservatives movements in different periods in European history from the 19th century onwards. Please send your proposal (250-300 words) and short cv to Matthijs Lok before 1 February 2026 ([email protected])
The cost for two attendance are 40,- euros (25 euros for a single day) for regular participants. (PhD/Graduate/MA) students attend the conference for free.