Far Right, Gender and Femonationalism

Over the past two decades, an increasingly dense network of reactionary campaigns targeting “gender” has steadily spread across the globe. What once appeared as scattered, localized protests have now penetrated mainstream politics worldwide, actively shaping policy-making processes and reframing how societies talk about gender, sexuality, family, and human rights. In the meantime, far right and conservative movements have paradoxically begun appropriating feminist and LGBTI+ language to legitimize and advance their own political agendas. Indeed, actors from the far right increasingly mobilize claims of women’s rights, LGBTI+ freedoms, and gender equality–often instrumentally–in opposition to migrant populations, religious minorities, or perceived ideological threats.

As “gender” emerges as an increasingly contested political battleground, it has become crucial to examine precisely how far-right actors both use and simultaneously oppose the notion of “gender”. The CRAPUL and CEG research centers at the University of Lausanne invite scholars to an international colloquium tentatively scheduled for mid-March 2026. This event seeks to critically interrogate the relationship between far-right politics and gender through three thematic axes, a fourth axis focused on methodology, and a roundtable on current research in the field. The colloquium will feature a keynote address by Kathleen Blee (University of Pittsburgh), a leading voice in the study of the gendered dimensions of the far right.

How to submit a proposal?

Proposals for papers should be sent by 30 October 2025 to charlene.calderaro@unil.ch and ugo_laquieze@unil.ch with the subject line “Proposal FRGF 2026”. Proposals of maximum 500 words must be written in English and accompanied by a short biographical sketch of the author(s), including e-mail address, institutional affiliation and main research interests. They should present the research questions, the data and methodology, and the results. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by mid-November. Working papers of around 5000 words (maximum 7000 words) will be expected by 20 February 2026. The colloquium will be held over three days in mid-March 2026, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. The exact dates will be announced in the notification of acceptance.
Organizing Committee: Charlène Calderaro (CEG-CRAPUL, University of Lausanne and DSPI, University of Oxford), Ugo Laquièze (CRAPUL, University of Lausanne), Éléonore Lépinard (CEG, University of Lausanne), Olivier Fillieule (CRAPUL, University of Lausanne)
Scientific Committee: Kathleen Blee (University of Pittsburgh), Charlène Calderaro (University of Lausanne and University of Oxford), Sara Farris (Goldsmiths University of London), Olivier Fillieule (University of Lausanne), Ugo Laquièze (University of Lausanne), Éléonore Lépinard (University of Lausanne), Nonna Mayer (Sciences Po Paris), Tomás Ojeda (University of Lausanne), David Paternotte (Free University of Brussels)