The Role of Intersectionality and Emotions for the Radical Right Leadership and Activism

Political Science has identified a so called “Gender Gap” in Radical Right Party (RRP) voting. Labour market positions and political attitudes have been the predominant focus in exploring the difference in RRP support between men and women. Despite the centrality of class, gender and ethnicity/race, as well as emotions for this debate in the literature on RRPs, these concepts have not been studied as intersecting and little consideration have been made to the role they might play in explaining the gendered difference in RRP support. To fill this gap, my Paper critically reviews the political science literature and show the importance of intersectionality and emotions for understanding RRPs politics. The paper will focus on political leadership in particular, but also by exploring the intersectional nature of voting behaviour and party activism. Combined with an intersectional perspective, Affect Theory and the Sociology of Emotions can help us understand how politically mobilized emotions are shaped, and in turn, shaping multiple and intersecting categories of difference.