The 'crisis' of white hegemony, neonationalist femininities and antiracist feminism

The rise of neonationalist politics and racist activism has characterised many European countries in recent years. Moreover, there is a growing public focus on gendered and sexualised intimacies. These two tendencies have increasingly intertwined and sexual violence has become a site for struggles over feminist and (anti)racist politics. The article examines what I call the 'crisis' of white hegemony arising in the aftermath of the arrival of a large number of refugees in 2015-2016 and the different strategies that women's and feminist activism has developed. Within white nationalism, there is an upsurge of 'white border guard femininities': white women who mobilise on social media and in far-right groups. Simultaneously, antiracist feminist activism has strengthened. It seeks to confront racist discourses of foreign perpetrators and to redirect the discussion by addressing structural aspects of racial and gendered hierarchies and voicing experiences of harassment that are bypassed in the public discussions.