“A Woman’s Place: Gender and Misogyny on the Extreme Right”

Aside from occasional references to toxic masculinity or to the growing engagement of women in the far right, there has been little serious attention in the mainstream media or policy worlds about the gendered aspects of extremist mobilization or radicalization. Cynthia Miller-Idriss offers what we already know about the gendered lenses that affect radicalization and recruitment into extremism. This includes an explanation of misogyny and male supremacy on the extremist fringe, but also patriarchy and hostile sexism within the mainstream. It also includes an examination of how women—especially white women—actively participate in white supremacist movements, while uncovering how histories of domestic and intimate partner violence are often precursors to other forms of hate-fueled or political violence perpetrated by men.

Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University in Washington, D.C., where she is also the founding director of the Polarization & Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). She regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress and briefs policy, security, education, and intelligence agencies in the United States, United Nations, and other countries on trends in domestic violent extremism and strategies for prevention and disengagement. She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of six books, including her most recent book, Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right (Princeton University Press 2022). Cynthia writes frequently for mainstream audiences, as an opinion columnist for MSNBC and in other recent bylines in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, Politico, USA Today, The Boston Globe, and more.