A Contradiction in Terms? The activity of Women and Migrants in Extreme Right-wing Populist Parties: a case study of Sweden Democrats.

Abstract

During the last 20 years their has been an upsurge in research on xenophobic populist parties mirroring their political successes. However, these studies have rarely touched upon the role of women and immigrants within these parties. While women are often invisible in research, located in a marginal role as girl-friends and sisters, migrants support to these parties is often defined as a contradiction in terms and remains un-theorised. The aim of the study is to analyse the double edged relationship between on the one side women and migrants approaching the Swedish xenophic populist party -Sweden Democrats, and on the other side the discourse of the party in respect to women and migrants in their conditions of representatives. It will identify women’s and migrant’s agency and explore the ways through which these shape, constrain and influence their position in the organisation. Theoretically the project is framed within gender and IMER studies, focusing on the notions of the family and nationhood, and the notions of ethnic belonging and nationhood. Methodologically the study is based on in depth interviews and life-stories with women and migrants representing SD in municipalities.

Keywords

Gender, Nation and Nationalism, Populism, Racism, Citizenship

Publications

Berggren, Erik, and Anders Neergaard. 2013. Högerpopulism – mellan populism och högerextremism? . In Migrationens och etnicitetens epok: Nyckelbegrepp inom internationell migration och etniska relationer, edited by M. Dahlstedt and A. Neergaard. Stockholm: Liber.

Dahlstedt, Magnus, and Anders Neergaard, eds. 2013. Migrationens och etnicitetens epok: Nyckelbegrepp inom internationell migration och etniska relationer. Stockholm: Liber.

Mulinari, Diana, and Anders Neergaard. 2010. Sverigedemokraterna och det teoretiska fältet. In Det vita fältet: Samtida forskning om högerextremism. Uppsala: Opuscula Historica Upsaliensia.

Mulinari, Diana, and Anders Neergaard. 2012. The Sweden Democrats, racisms and the construction of the Muslim threat. In Global Islamophobia: Muslims and Moral Panic in the West, edited by G. Morgan and S. Poynting. London: Ashgate.

Mulinari, Diana, and Anders Neergaard. 2012. Violence, Racism, and the Political Arena: A Scandinavian Dilemma. NORA – Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research 20 (1):12-18.

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2014a). Svenskhet som kulturellt kapital. SD och kvinnorna. In M. Axelsson & K. Borg (Eds.), Sverigedemokraternas svarta bok. Verbal.

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2014b). We are Sweden Democrats because we care for others: Exploring racisms in the Swedish extreme right. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 21(1), 43–56.

Berggren, E., & Neergaard, A. (2015). Populism – Protest, democratic challenge and right-wing extremism. In M. Dahlstedt & A. Neergaard (Eds.), International Migration and Ethnic Relations: Critical Perspectives (pp. 169–199). Routledge.

Dahlstedt, M., & Neergaard, A. (2015a). Conclusion: Whither Swedish Exceptionalism? Concluding reflections. In M. Dahlstedt & A. Neergaard (Eds.), International Migration and Ethnic Relations: Critical Perspectives. Routledge.

Dahlstedt, M., & Neergaard, A. (2015b). International Migration and Ethnic Relations: Critical Perspectives. Routledge.

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2015). Racist dreams and municipal budgets: Women representing a culturally racist party in local politics. Social Identities, 21(5), 506–523. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2015.1081561

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2017a). Doing Racism, Performing Femininity: Women in the Sweden Democrats. In Michaela Köttig, Renate Bitzan, & Andrea Petö (Eds.), Gender and Far Right Politics in Europe. Palgrave.

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2017b). From racial to racist state? The Sweden Democrats reimagining the nation. In A. Ålund, C. U. Schierup, & A. Neergaard (Eds.), Reimagineering the Nation. Essays on Twenty First Century Sweden (pp. 257–284). Peter Lang.

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2017c). Theorising racism: Exploring the Swedish racial regime. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 7(2 (June)).

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2018a). Sverigedemokraternas Sverige—Från rasifierande politik till en rasistisk stat? In A. Ålund, C.-U. Schierup, & A. Neergaard (Eds.), Nation i ombildning: Essäer om 2000-talets Sverige (pp. 225–259). Boréa AB.

Mulinari, D., & Neergaard, A. (2018b). A contradiction in terms? Migrant activists in the Sweden Democrats party. Identities, 26(2), 222–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2017.1418275