Political uncommoning through anti-gender mobilization by radical right-wing online voices

The exclusionary political languages and imaginaries of radical right-wing political actors are becoming ever more creative, productive, and influential. These actors use social media communication to promote and instrumentalize anti-gender (sexist, homophobic, anti-gender-equality) arguments to change societal relations and norms. Relying on the results of a comparative research initiative on radical right-wing social media communication in five European countries, this article explores how these communication acts strive to establish political commons by interlacing visions of inclusion and exclusion. These acts portray various threats to patriarchal power practices by eliciting both positive and negative emotions, including fear, anger, love, and solidarity. These radical right-wing forces call for the establishment of a new morality and commonality by complying with some principles of commoning, yet they actively engage in political uncommoning. The article also reflects on the difficulties of doing anthropological work on ‘enemies of liberal democracies’ and ‘people whom we dislike’.