The global rise of extremisms: towards a gendered analytical framework

Abstract

In recent years, feminist scholarship has contributed gender perspectives to examine extremist narratives, motivations and recruitment, as well as gender-responsive strategies to counter extremism. A systematic framework for analysing how gender operates at multiple levels to promote or counter extremisms, however, does not exist. To address this need, we offer a typology with three dimensions drawn from feminist theory: gendered identity, referring to the concept of a person’s gender; gendered ideology, referring to the role gender plays in the mobilising myths of states and non-state organisations; and gendered power dynamics, referring to the hierarchical order of femininities and masculinities structuring the environments in which extremism takes root. The article applies the gender typology to far-right, Buddhist and Islamist extremisms, illustrating the analytical power of gender to explain and interpret diverse extremisms while highlighting patterns and relationships across them in broader global politics. We argue that it is vital to study the intersecting dynamics of gender in order to both understand and challenge extremisms that are increasingly prevalent globally.