1The latest book written by sociologist Francesca Scrinzi makes a major contribution to comparative studies of gender relations in Italy and France, providing solid keys for analyzing the expansion and feminization of support for far-right parties, and opening heuristic avenues of research. Scrinzi had previously studied the evolution of “gender regimes” (Walby 2020) in these two countries, based on migration, religion and the international division of domestic labor. In The Racialization of Sexism, she develops an innovative empirical and analytical approach: the intersectional and biographical study of female activists who belong to two parties of the populist radical right (PRR), namely the Lega (formerly Lega Nord) in Italy and the Front national (today Rassemblement national) in France.

2Published after more than ten years of investigation and several articles (e.g. Scrinzi 2015, 2017), The Racialization of Sexism is based on an original ethnography, on rigorously analyzed data, and on a rich bibliography. The book’s first contribution is the problematized presentation, in the introduction and first chapter, of research on the far right published in English, French and Italian. The sociologist points out an important gender bias in the scientific literature on gender, activism and PRR party ideology (p. 22). Most of these studies tend to focus on questions of migration and identity at the expense of gender and sexuality, which are very present themes in PRR parties. When gender is considered, it is through the prism of the gender gap in electoral results.

3To counter this bias, Scrinzi centers her analysis on the “racialization of sexism” (Hamel 2005, Scrinzi 2014), namely the attribution of sexism to racialized groups exclusively and the parallel claim of gender equality as an emblem of national identity, thus “externalizing the gender conflict” and hiding the structural inequalities of the societies under consideration (p. 2). The racialization of sexism is identified as a central discursive pattern in contemporary far-right politics. It contributed to revitalize PRR parties not only in their gender, race and religious ideology (explored in each national context in the second chapter), but also in their recruitment strategies and modes of engagement. In her book, Scrinzi proposes to look beyond electoral analyses and open the “black box” (p. 5) of activism in PRR parties. Her investigation is based on a qualitative inquiry that included close to one hundred biographical interviews with members of the Lega Nord and the Front National, semi-directive interviews with political leaders of both parties, direct observations of political meetings, public events and informal moments, and an analysis of party archives. On the strength of this empirical corpus, she challenges the reductive model according to which PRR parties are organizations exclusively composed of “angry white men”. She also broadens research on gender dynamics in far-right movements, which tended in the past to exclusively focus on women and often analyzed their commitment to these political projects in terms of conformism to their partner’s commitment (p. 33-36).

4The third chapter explores meso-sociological dynamics within the Lega Nord and the Front National by analyzing female sub-groups, youth sections and the motivational patterns of individuals engaged in both parties. It shows that the recruitment strategies deployed are highly gendered, but also increasingly structured around discourses on the racialization of sexism. These discourses are an important method for recruiting women and men alike, who join PRR organizations to “defend native women” from the violence of racialized men (p. 91).

5The fourth chapter analyzes the postures and forms of negotiation developed by extreme right-wing women to deal with gender inequalities in their respective parties. Scrinzi shows how the sexual division of activist labor (Dunezat 2008) reproduces the marginalization of women in these movements, and she describes how women activists perceive this inequality, often naturalizing it in the name of “feminine qualities” (p. 101). The author then shows the different attitudes adopted by these women with regard to their own political commitment, particularly in generational terms, in both the Front National and the Lega Nord. She explains that older women readily identify themselves as “mothers of the nation,” and do not necessarily ignore the gender inequalities in their party and in society –even if they often consider them natural. Younger women tend to deny any discrimination and interpret sexism as both a past and an exogenous issue, associated with immigration. Young far-right activists describe themselves as “female individuals” (p. 108) and adopt a typically neoliberal discursive repertoire that considers emancipation to be a matter of free choice.

6Of great interest is Scrinzi’s analysis of the sexual division of activist labor, which, according to her, reproduces a hierarchy between tasks considered feminine, thus less valued or disregarded as political activities, and those considered masculine and more valued. She refers to tasks such as handing out leaflets, hanging posters and the more general domestic and care activities performed by women activists (p. 99-103). However, more concrete observations of these tasks would have been useful. Scrinzi also identifies a significant discrepancy between the ubiquitous racialization of sexism in PRR party propaganda, and the more nuanced comments of party members in interviews. The repeated allusions to the immigrant aggressor seem to correspond to an emotional appeal aimed at strengthening internal party cohesion, rather than an ideological factor of individual commitment (p. 116). Many readers, including the authors of this article, would like to know more about this crucial point, and understand how these women cope (or not) with the way they are represented as “racial victims” (p. 148).

7The fifth chapter adopts a biographical and intersectional approach (Bargel 2005, Fillieule 2010) to reconstruct the trajectories of members of the Lega Nord and the Front National. Scrinzi shows that their form of political commitment is gendered and varies according to the position they fill in their marriage and in reproductive labor within their home, and are strongly structured by social class. She distinguishes the activists working in a family business from middle-class professionals and working-class women, and shows how the modalities of their commitment change over the course of their lives depending on reconfigurations in the division of domestic labor. Scrinzi also points out that men, both young and old, cannot be reduced to the figure of “angry white men” typical of hegemonic masculinity (Connell 1998), and that their engagement in far-right parties may be considered as an attempt to renegotiate subordinate masculinities, particularly in terms of class (p. 135). Somewhat unexpectedly, several activists described their membership in PRR organizations as a form of “caring masculinity,” highlighting their role as heads of the household, but also as “fathers of the nation” who guide the younger men in the party (p. 137).

8Like the previous chapter, this extremely rich one presents innovative findings, which could have been expanded in some respects. The analysis based on social class applied with a lot of insight to the trajectory of women activists could have been used for men, and the concept of “caring masculinity” could have been supported by more field observations to give us a glimpse, beyond the words spoken in interviews, of the way caring activities are carried out. Relations between men and their family were less analyzed than women’s, and the empirical dimension of emotional work within political spaces could have been expanded (see for example Picot 2019).

9In the sixth and final chapter, Scrinzi gives an overview of the book’s main contributions, which we consider to be groundbreaking scientific achievements. Firstly, on a macro- and meso-sociological scale, she insists on the fact that the gender ideologies behind the two parties examined are currently more complex than those attributed to the historical far right. They combine traditional conservative elements with “modern” or even neoliberal models of masculinity and femininity, and with the (selective) appropriation of certain feminist ideas reflected in the racialization of violence against women and femo-nationalism (Farris 2012). Secondly, Scrinzi’s multi-level analysis of far-right activism deepens our understanding of the dynamics of social relations, notably gender and class relations, within these spaces of organization, and offers a more nuanced view that challenges the stereotypical figures of male activists as “brothers in arms” and female activists as “mothers of the nation” (p. 164).

10In conclusion, The Racialization of Sexism, with its empirically grounded comparative approach, that combines different social relations and scales of analysis, and dialogues with international literature, can be considered a particularly valuable work for a wide audience and not only for specialists in the far right. In our view, three aspects could be investigated in greater depth in the future. First, Scrinzi’s interpretation of the whiteness of the social actors studied could be expanded by an intersectional analysis in terms of generation and age, gender and social class, which is necessary for understanding the structure of domination in racialized social relations (Kebabza 2006). While the otherness process that operates in the racialization of sexism is examined, an empirical approach to racial boundaries in these political and media spaces would have been welcome, in line with research developed in France (e.g. Hajjat and Mohammed 2016, Asal 2020, Faury 2023).

11A second aspect that requires further investigation is the study of the dialectics and frequent conflicts between feminisms and PRR parties, which could not be included in the book because they have occurred too recently, but which deserve to be explored through the prism of Scrinzi's theoretical and methodological framework. Examples in Italy include the rise of the trans-feminist movement Non una di meno (Chironi 2019), which Scrinzi quotes briefly (p. 177), and the demonstrations against feminicide that followed the murder of Giulia Cecchettin. In France, a glaring example is the far right’s collusion with organizations and activists that claim feminist postures but that exclude trans women from the category of woman. It remains to be seen how these collaborations have contributed to challenge the official narratives of PRR parties and, more broadly, discourses on the racialization of sexism.

12Finally, a theme briefly addressed by the author (p. 127) that would undoubtedly merit further exploration is the fact that some of the activists of both parties examined hire people of foreign and/or non-white origin for domestic and care work. The interactions between these workers and family members, particularly women, have already been studied by Scrinzi in her earlier work (Scrinzi 2004), but analyzing this type of domestic relationship when members of the household are far-right activists would shed light on tensions, and possibly contradictions, between discourses and concrete practices of accommodation in the private relationships of these activists.