Gender, Toxic Masculinity, and the Emotional Politics of Grievance in Contemporary Europe

This paper investigates the gendered dimensions of grievance politics, with particular attention to the roles of toxic masculinity and emotional discourse in shaping political mobilization and democratic backsliding across contemporary European contexts. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the research combines original survey data, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and digital discourse analysis. Preliminary findings from survey data and interviews conducted in multiple national contexts suggest that gendered norms and masculine-coded emotional repertoires—resting on ressentiment, control, and victimhood—play a critical role in shaping political identification and anti-democratic sentiment. Focus groups with progressive and pro-democratic civil society actors highlight both the perceived threats of masculinist grievance politics and emerging forms of resistance, solidarity, and emotional counter-narratives. Additionally, a discourse analysis of social media activity around the 2024 European Parliament elections reveals how emotional governance—particularly through the circulation of misogynistic, nationalist, and militarised content—is strategically deployed and contested. The analysis maps how such narratives intersect with key crisis domains including COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and the climate/energy crisis. By centering gender and emotional repertoires in the study of grievance politics, this paper contributes to broader debates on democratic erosion, affective governance, and gendered political subjectivities in times of crisis.