Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Projects
    • Corporate Taxation in a Globalised Era
    • US Election 2020
    • The Transformation of Work
    • The Coronavirus Crisis and the Welfare State
    • Just Transition
    • Artificial intelligence, work and society
    • What is inequality?
    • Europe 2025
    • The Crisis Of Globalisation
  • Audiovisual
    • Audio Podcast
    • Video Podcasts
    • Social Europe Talk Videos
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Shop
  • Membership
  • Ads
  • Newsletter

Fewer Italians than Swedes hold anti-feminist views

by Tatev Hovhannisyan on 17th February 2021 @tahovhannisyan

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

New research from anti-extremism charities reveals ‘unexpected patterns’ of opinions towards feminism across Europe.

anti-extremism,anti-feminist
Tatev Hovhannisyan

Few would consider Italy—known for its ‘macho’ politics and far-right leaders promoting ‘traditional’ gender roles—as a hotspot for feminist values in Europe. But a new survey, conducted in late 2020 and released yesterday, suggests this may be changing.

Of the eight European countries included in the survey, which had 12,000 respondents, people in Italy were the least likely to blame feminism for men’s feelings of marginalisation and demonisation.

Meanwhile, in Sweden—long seen as a bastion of progressive gender-equality politics—more people (41 per cent) than anywhere else surveyed said they at least somewhat agreed with the statement: ‘It is feminism’s fault that some men feel at the margins of society and demonised.’

Daniel Poohl, editor-in-chief with the Swedish anti-extremism group Expo, told openDemocracy that ‘the surprising anti-feminist views of Swedes’ could be partly explained as a backlash to successful feminist movements. ‘Some victories of Swedish feminism in the last years could have activated the rise of strong opposite attitudes,’ he said.

anti-extremism,anti-feminist

After Sweden, about 30 per cent of participants in Poland expressed anti-feminist views, followed by the United Kingdom (28 per cent), France (26 per cent), Hungary (22 per cent), Germany (19 per cent) and the Netherlands (15 per cent). Only 13 per cent of Italian respondents, however, expressed such views and 65 per cent said they either strongly or somewhat disagreed with them.

Join our growing community newsletter!

"Social Europe publishes thought-provoking articles on the big political and economic issues of our time analysed from a European viewpoint. Indispensable reading!"

Polly Toynbee

Columnist for The Guardian

Thank you very much for your interest! Now please check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

Simone Rafael from the Amadeu Antonio Foundation in Germany, which commissioned the research along with Expo and HOPE not Hate in the UK, called the scale of anti-feminist opinion in Europe ‘very worrying’. Nick Lowles, chief executive of HOPE not Hate, added that, in many countries, an ‘anti-feminism agenda’ is now ‘wrapped up in the growing right-wing cultural wars which is much more aggressive, quite violent rhetoric and is used particularly by younger men’.

‘State of hate’

The anti-extremism groups’ survey was commissioned as part of a new report entitled ‘State of Hate: far-right extremism in Europe’. It also revealed that at least a quarter of the survey’s respondents said they had negative feelings towards Muslim people. Almost a third reflected hostile views towards immigrants generally and more than a third reflected such views of Roma people.

‘This report shows that the threat against democracy is changing form and strategy. The far right of today is a transnational movement that organises supporters through networks rather than old-fashioned organisations,’ said Poohl.

Ahead of the 2019 European Parliament elections, openDemocracy uncovered how a dozen US Christian right ‘fundamentalist’ groups had poured at least $50 million of dark money into Europe over a decade, boosting the far right that was angling for record wins that year. Lowles said extremist ideologies were now ‘internationalised like never before’—and ‘resistance must be so, too’.


We need your help! Please join our mission to improve public policy debates.


As you may know, Social Europe is an independent publisher. We aren't backed by a large publishing house or big advertising partners. For the longevity of Social Europe we depend on our loyal readers - we depend on you. You can support us by becoming a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month.

Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

According to the survey, the majority of respondents in Hungary hold negative views towards immigrants (60 per cent) and Muslim people (54 per cent). These numbers are about twice as high as they are in the UK, where 30 per cent hold such views of immigrants and 26 per cent of Muslims.

When asked if they sympathised with Black Lives Matter protests against racism and discrimination against minorities, most respondents in Germany (52 per cent), Sweden (51 per cent) and the UK (51 per cent) said they did. This was not the case in any of the other countries surveyed.

‘Deep mistrust’ of authorities

The report also highlighted a ‘deep well of mistrust’ in authorities, adding that populists and extremists across Europe could attempt to exploit such an environment.

Political disenchantment was particularly pronounced in Italy and France, with 79 per cent and 67 per cent of respondents respectively saying that they thought their political system was wholly or partially broken. These figures were also high in Poland (63 per cent), the UK (58 per cent) and Hungary (55 per cent).

‘Europe’s far-right and anti-democratic scene is connected in many ways nowadays—it is anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and white-supremacy thinking that the far-right enemies of democracy agree on,’ concluded Anetta Kahane, chair of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation. This report, she argued, ‘makes the commonalities visible that we must fight together to protect democracy and human rights in Europe.’

This article was originally published on opendemocracy.net

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedIn
Home ・ Society ・ Fewer Italians than Swedes hold anti-feminist views

Filed Under: Most popular, Society Tagged With: gender inequality

About Tatev Hovhannisyan

Tatev Hovhannisyan is Eurasia investigations fellow with OpenDemocracy. Previously she was an editor at the Mediamax news agency and CivilNet TV in Armenia. She has also contributed to the Guardian, Mother Jones, BBC Russia, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

Partner Ads

Most Popular Posts

Thomas Piketty,capital Capital and ideology: interview with Thomas Piketty Thomas Piketty
sovereignty Brexit and the misunderstanding of sovereignty Peter Verovšek
China,cold war The first global event in the history of humankind Branko Milanovic
centre-left, Democratic Party The Biden victory and the future of the centre-left EJ Dionne Jr
Covid 19 vaccine Designing vaccines for people, not profits Mariana Mazzucato, Henry Lishi Li and Els Torreele

Most Recent Posts

SDR,special drawing rights Europe could make good use of a new SDR allocation Jayati Ghosh
socio-ecological contract The four ‘I’s of a new socio-ecological contract Philippe Pochet
supply chain,Germany,human rights Germany’s proposed supply-chain law—a glass half-empty Johanna Kusch and Claudia Saller
Myanmar,due diligence Human-rights due diligence and Myanmar Frank Hoffer
Uber,drivers,gig UK gig drivers recognised as workers—what next? Jill Toh

Other Social Europe Publications

RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?
US election 2020
Corporate taxation in a globalised era
The transformation of work
The coronavirus crisis and the welfare state

Eurofound advertisement

Industrial relations: developments 2015-2019

Eurofound has monitored and analysed developments in industrial relations systems at EU level and in EU member states for over 40 years. This new flagship report provides an overview of developments in industrial relations and social dialogue in the years immediately prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Findings are placed in the context of the key developments in EU policy affecting employment, working conditions and social policy, and linked to the work done by social partners—as well as public authorities—at European and national levels.


CLICK FOR MORE INFO

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

FEPS Progressive Yearbook

Twenty-twenty has been an extraordinary year. The Covid-19 pandemic and the multidimensional crisis that it triggered have boosted existing trends and put forward new challenges. But they have also created unexpected opportunities to set a new course of action for the European Union and—hopefully—make a remarkable leap forward in European integration.

The second edition of the Progressive Yearbook, the yearly publication of the Foundation for European Progressive studies, revolves around the exceptional events of 2020 and looks at the social, economic and political impact they will have in 2021. It is a unique publication, which aims to be an instrument for the progressive family to reflect on the recent past and look ahead to our next future.


CLICK HERE

Social Europe Publishing book

With a pandemic raging, for those countries most affected by Brexit the end of the transition could not come at a worse time. Yet, might the UK's withdrawal be a blessing in disguise? With its biggest veto player gone, might the European Pillar of Social Rights take centre stage? This book brings together leading experts in European politics and policy to examine social citizenship rights across the European continent in the wake of Brexit. Will member states see an enhanced social Europe or a race to the bottom?

'This book correctly emphasises the need to place the future of social rights in Europe front and centre in the post-Brexit debate, to move on from the economistic bias that has obscured our vision of a progressive social Europe.' Michael D Higgins, president of Ireland


MORE INFO

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Renewing labour relations in the German meat industry: an end to 'organised irresponsibility'?

Over the course of 2020, repeated outbreaks of Covid-19 in a number of large German meat-processing plants led to renewed public concern about the longstanding labour abuses in this industry. New legislation providing for enhanced inspection on health and safety, together with a ban on contract work and limitations on the use of temporary agency employees, holds out the prospect of a profound change in employment practices and labour relations in the meat industry. Changes in the law are not sufficient, on their own, to ensure decent working conditions, however. There is also a need to re-establish the previously high level of collective-bargaining coverage in the industry, underpinned by an industry-wide collective agreement extended by law to cover the entire sector.


FREE DOWNLOAD

ETUI advertisement

ETUI/ETUC (online) conference Towards a new socio-ecological contract 3-5 February 2021

The need to effectively tackle global warming puts under pressure the existing industrial relations models in Europe. A viable world of labour requires a new sustainability paradigm: economic, social and environmental.

The required paradigm shift implies large-scale economic and societal change and serious deliberation. All workers need to be actively involved and nobody should be left behind. Massive societal coalitions will have to be built for a shared vision to emerge and for a just transition, with fairly distributed costs, to be supported. But this is also an opportunity to redefine our societal goals and how they relate to the current focus on (green) growth.


REPLAY ALL SESSIONS

To access the videos, click on the chosen day then click on the ‘video’ button of your chosen session (plenary or panel). It will bring you immediately to the corresponding video. To access the available presentations, click on the chosen day then click on the ‘information’ button. Check the links to the available presentations.

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Find Social Europe Content

Search Social Europe

Project Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

.EU Web Awards