‘Patriotism is not just a Man’s Thing’: Right-wing Extremist Gender Policies within the so-called Identitarian Movement

Abstract

Taking an analysis of relevant statements and campaigns of the right-wing extremist group ‘Identitarian Movement’ in German-speaking countries as a starting point, this article will reconstruct their key narratives with regard to gender policy, and identify the discourses and forms of organization that are used to integrate women into the Identitarian context. An overview of the origins and characteristics of the Identitarians is followed by a classification of Identitarian gender policy into three phases: its beginning (2012–2015), its peak (2016–2018) and its demise (2019–2020). As can be seen, during the first years it had been necessary to negotiate fundamental questions of the group's gender concepts, whereas during the peak years the focus shifted to threat scenarios involving ‘our women’. At the same time, female activists started to find their own projects. Since 2019, however, the group has started to fall apart, women's issues have lost their appeal and women activists have been leaving. Notwithstanding this decline, the question still remains of what to make of the gender-political commitment of Identitarian women in the context of feminist debates.