Reframing nationalism, citizenship and gender: - reflections on contemporary European nationalisms

Abstract: The growth of nationalism and nativist parties and movements has raised political and scholarly debates about the future viability of European welfare states and democracies. These projects are sparkled by reactions to the global war on terror and the economic and financial crises followed by austerity politics, growing securization, unemployment and poverty across the continent. The nationalist trend has been visible in national elections and culminated in the European Parliamentary elections in 2014, where Rightwing Populist parties increased their presence. European scholars have pointed towards the growth of exclusive welfare nationalism fueled by global mobility and increased migration. Feminist scholars have started to analyse the articulation of welfare and citizenship in nationalist projects. The theoretical section revisits approaches to gender nationalism arguing that in order to understand contemporary nationalist policies gendered approaches need to evolve beyond notions premised on family values and motherhood. The empirical section addresses the challenges from contemporary nationalisms in Europe focusing on the politics and rhetoric of Rightwing nationalist parties in Scandinavia. It proposes that in order to overcome exclusive notions of nationalism and formulate more inclusive notions of justice one strategy could be to rethink citizenship beyond the nation state.