Female Leaders and the Populist Right in the Nordic countries

The paper examines female leadership within populist radical right parties in the Nordic countries, challenging the traditional view of these parties as Männerparteien dominated by male leaders and electorates. Building on research that highlights the centrality of gender to the radical right, we focus on how women leaders frame themselves and navigate gendered expectations. Drawing on theories of charisma, masculinity, femininity, and gendered globalization, we analyze autobiographies, speeches, and media portrayals of female populist leaders in Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Our study demonstrates how women leaders strategically balance hegemonic masculinity and femininity, portraying themselves simultaneously as autonomous professionals and as guardians of traditional family values. This dual performance allows them to embody both neoliberal ideals of self-reliance and conservative appeals to gender roles, thereby broadening their political legitimacy. By investigating these self-representations, the paper contributes to understanding how gender and leadership intersect in shaping Nordic populist radical right politics.