Alice im Sissi-Land

In the organizer's words:

Anti-feminism in right-wing extremist ideologies and parties

Anti-feminism is a central ideological resource in right-wing extremism and acts as a bridging ideology that creates connectivity to conservative milieus. It goes beyond the rejection of gender equality and is directed against the central principles of an open, pluralistic and democratic society. Anti-feminist discourse is based on an essentialist understanding of gender that naturalizes social roles and denies the construction of gender. In this context, the "traditional family" is stylized as a supposedly natural social order, while gender equality policies and feminist movements are staged as a threat to this order.
These narratives are part of an anti-egalitarian project that aims to re-traditionalize social structures. This involves the construction of an enemy image (othering), which serves to discredit progressive values as an expression of a "depraved modernity". On the other hand, they enable the symbolic self-positioning of right-wing extremist actors as "defenders" of a supposedly threatened hegemonic order.
Antifeminism thus functions as a mobilization resource that makes massive existing insecurities and experiences of crisis (e.g. in the context of globalization, migration or social change) politically interpretable. This ideological resource and narrative also rely on emotionalization, moralization and the production of fear, which in turn contributes significantly to the radicalization of supporters. At the same time, these narratives stabilize right-wing extremist world views by making gender relations the central point of reference for an authoritarian-nationalist social order.

In this keynote speech, the expert speaker, Andreas Kemper, will focus on the role of noble families in Germany: He will shed light on the agency of aristocratic families in modern anti-feminism and discuss issues of class and gender in order to explain internet phenomena such as "tradwives" (traditional (house) wives).

It may seem contradictory that women are anti-feminist, i.e. against the interests of women. If we take a closer look at the names of the anti-feminist protagonists, we notice that many of them come from the aristocracy: Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, Beatrix von Storch, Hedwig von Beverfoerde... They define what the position of women in the traditional family is, but come from Empress Sissi families in which servants were responsible for care work. And Birgit Kele's husband is also a would-be knight.

Biography: Dr. Andreas Kemper is a freelance sociologist and journalist. He researches classism (educational disadvantage of working-class children), fascism, right-wing "libertarianism" and anti-feminism. His research on Björn Höcke led to impeachment and expulsion proceedings in the AfD.

Chair + moderation: Dr. Corina Toledo

Speaker: Andreas Kemper