Rethinking the Radical Right: Transnational Networks, Policy Convergence, and Discursive Power Across Gender, Health, and Environment

Liberal and democratic institutions are facing unprecedented challenges. The recent rise of radical right‑wing populist movements and their transnational networks and the access to government in several European countries of radical-right populist parties is testified by restrictive norms on migration, equality rights, and welfare.

Scholarly attention has focused on far-right stances concerning anti-migration and EU scepticism. The panel aims to explore and deepen the intersecting role that reproductive rights, environmental and wider health policies play in shaping the political offer of the European and American far right.
Furthermore, building on existing studies, this panel examines the existence of common underlying ideologies of conservative, libertarian, and radical right‑wing populist actors enabling them to collaborate across borders to reshape policy agendas at national and EU‑level. It also investigates the transnational role of conservative think tanks in the broader dynamic of far-right discourses and their interplay in domestic policy outcomes.

We invite paper proposals on all aspects of rethinking the relationship between conservative and reactionary thinking, politics and discursive struggles, the development of social conservative policies that curb gender equality, reproductive rights, universal welfare model, and environmental justice. Possible topics may be:

-Historical Reconstruction and Philosophical Analysis of Reactionary and Conservative Thoughts on Healthy Society, Traditional Family, Health and Social Welfare, Environmentalism;

-Discursive Strategies and Ideological Reframing: How do conservative and populist actors appropriate progressive language (e.g., “equal rights,” “free speech,” “protecting families”) to advance discriminatory or anti‑rights agendas? How do these movements collaborate or reinforce each other’s narratives and policy goals?

-Policy Content and Ideological Convergence: How do stances on public health, sexual and reproductive rights, climate policy, environmental regulation, and gender equality interlink or align across conservative and libertarian actors? Is there a common ideology or political agenda that unites various far-right parties in Europe and the United States?

-Can we identify a coherent European radical right agenda, or do national contexts produce divergent models?

-Think tanks, metapolitics, and hegemony in the public discursive sphere;

-Public Health, Pandemic Measures, and Antivax Movements;

-Reproductive health policy; broader ideological alignments linking opposition to reproductive rights with other policy domains which impact health and social policies.

This panel aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue across political science, global health, gender studies, environmental policy, and critical theory. We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions. We invite scholars at all career stages, especially young scholars, to submit abstracts that engage with these themes.

To submit a paper, please send an anonymized abstract of no more than 500 words, suitable for a 30 minute presentation (followed by 30 minutes of Q&A), to Corrado Piroddi ([email protected]) or Valentine Berthet ([email protected]), by Monday 18 May.
Successful applicants will be notified shortly afterwards.