Gender, Citizenship and Intersectionality: Contending with nationalism in the Nordic region

This chapter addresses the new forms of ethno-nationalisms that are challenging (gender) equality and solidarity in the Nordic region. It explores the intersectional dilemmas of gender politics following growing immigration and the ‘refugee crisis’, reflecting critically upon the links between exclusionary nationalism and feminism. The theoretical and methodological approach integrates key concepts from theories on social movements, citizenship and gender, with special emphasis on intersectionality at the interface of immigration, gender and race/ethnicity. The empirical section on gender, welfare and neo-nationalism addresses the conditions for citizens’ activism against racism, discrimination and ‘othering’ from within the particular Scandinavian context. The Danish case study analyses how right-wing populism influences politics and acts of solidarity contending with anti-immigration and anti-Muslim politics. The focus is on the agency, goals, strategies and motivations of activist groups, looking at the role of women activists and whether gender issues and feminist politics are part of the anti-racist strategies and claims. It examines the potential for forging transversal coalitions of solidarity against racism and discrimination in the Danish context. The perspective is to discuss the conditions for fostering inclusive solidarity against exclusionary nationalism in the particular Nordic context with a focus on intersectional relations between immigration, gender and race/ethnicity.