Masculinities, Citizenship and Right-Wing Populism in Australia
Author(s):
In the settler-colonial context of Australia, this paper addresses the specific framing of masculinity with which right-wing populism seeks to engage. It reports on a recent online survey completed by 335 men. Their written responses pointed to troubles in their lives, including difficult relationship and career circumstances. However, they did not hold the vicissitudes of neo-liberal economics to account, but rather assigned blame to the ‘other’; women, feminism, queers, immigrants and so on. Many informants expressed strong mistrust of government. Divisive right-wing populist ideas routinely circulate on social media platforms; the men’s main source of news/information. Quite a few articulated nostalgia for an old-fashioned ‘tough’ gender order.