Right-wing Times: Fascism, Left/Right Convergences and the Relationship of ‘Gender-Critical’ to Anti-Gender

Tudor, Alyosxa

Abstract

This article considers the role that so-called ‘gender critical’ feminist mobilizations play transnationally, not only in amplifying global anti-gender movements, but in fuelling broader left and liberal complicity in growing fascism. While anti-gender mobilizations most often act in the name of conservative, right-wing or fascist politics, ‘gender critical’ articulations are more politically ambiguous. This is particularly apparent when considering anti-trans/‘gender-critical’ arguments within feminism, where left and right arguments coalesce around claims to protect women and children from danger. While asking broader questions on leftist/liberal complicity in rising fascism, I caution against blanketly understanding all ‘gender criticals’ as fascists. Rather, I am interested in what ‘gender critical’ thought, especially on the Left, does for fascism. I analyse transnational sites of this ambiguity and argue that ‘gender critical’ left positions offer a key case study that helps us theorize the role of the Left and of Liberalism in ‘right-wing times’ more generally. A ‘right-wing times’ framework is useful because it redirects attention to the discursive boundaries of the debate rather than the positionality of the speakers involved. Both in left/liberal and right-wing iterations, anti-gender and anti-trans politics frequently overlap with anti-immigration and anti-Palestine rhetoric and attacks on fields of knowledge like critical race theory and intersectionality. Analyzing these discourses together, as I suggest, will not only generate more precise tools to address the current global rise of fascism but also reveal the necessity for explicitly transnational epistemologies and organizing strategies in response.

Citation

Tudor, A. (in press). Right-wing Times: Fascism, Left/Right Convergences and the Relationship of ‘Gender-Critical’ to Anti-Gender. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 22, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jun 4, 2025
• Print ISSN: 0097-9740
• Electronic ISSN: 1545-6943
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed