Between Past and Present. Continuities of Right-Wing Extremist Images of Womanhood

Event, deadline 6 January 2026

At this international one-day conference, experts will discuss their latest research findings about the historical and current role of fascist and nationalistic-oriented women from the interwar period to the present day.

Between Past and Present. Continuities of Right-Wing Extremist Images of Womanhood

At this international one-day conference, experts will discuss their latest research findings about the historical and current role of fascist and nationalistic-oriented women from the interwar period to the present day. In light of the shift to the right in many European countries and elsewhere, it will be shown how antifeminist politics, traditional images of womanhood and right-wing ideologies have shaped society until today.

The conference is part of the international EU project “Teaching about Race and Gender Exclusion Timelines.”

Programme

11:00 Welcome speeches

PD Dr. Werner Treß (Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies)

Nataša Popović (Centre for Promotion of Tolerance and Holocaust Remembrance)

11:15 – 12:00 Keynote

Moderation: Dr. Martina Bitunjac (Moses Mendelssohn Center for European Jewish-Studies)

PD Dr. Ljiljana Radonić (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Female Perpetrators and their Antisemitic, Racist and Antiziganist Authoritarian Projections

12:00 – 12:15 Coffee break

12:15 – 13:15 Panel I

Moderation: Dr. Olaf Glöckner (Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies)

Prof. Dr. Esther Lehnert (Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin)
Women in the Far Right: Fighting for Women’s Rights?

Prof. Dr. Perry Willson (University of Dundee)
The Political Mobilisation of Women in Fascist Italy: 1922–1943

13:15 – 14:30 Lunch

14:30 – 15:30 Panel II

Moderation: Dr. Roy Knocke (Lepsiushaus Potsdam)

Dr. Anca Diana Axinia (Independent Scholar)
Women, Gender, and Politics in the Romanian Legionary Movement

Dr. Martina Bitunjac (Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies)
Women, the Ustaša and the Right Movement in Croatia and in the Diaspora

15:30 – 15:45 Coffee break

15:45 – 16:45 Panel III

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Alexandru-Florin Platon („Alexandru Ioan Cuza“ University of Iași)

Dr. habil. Urszula Markowska-Manista (University of Warsaw)
Sensitive Knowledge and Multiple Narratives in Intertwined Contexts: Women in Poland

Dr. Olena Petrenko (University of Bochum)
Gender and Nationalism: The Role of Women in the Ukrainian Nationalist Movement

16:45 – 17:00 Coffee break

17:00 – 18:00 Panel IV

Moderation: Dr. habil. Urszula Markowska-Manista (University of Warsaw)

Prof. Dr. Julie V. Gottlieb (University of Sheffield)
Continuities, Changes and the (Re)presentation of Women in Extreme-Right Politics in Britain, 1923 to the Present

Dr. Benjamin Zachariah (Einstein Forum)
Nationalism, the Volk, and Women’s ‘Agency’: The Case of India

18:00 Closing remarks

Contact

Dr. Martina Bitunjac
Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum für europäisch-jüdische Studien
E-Mail: mbitunja@uni-potsdam.de

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