The enemy’s enemy: feminism at the crossroads of neoliberal co-optation and anti-gender conservatism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Contemporary left-wing feminist and queer politics finds itself in a double-bind between on the one hand neoliberal and corporate embracement of gender equality and sexual diversity, and (neo)conservative anti-gender mobilization on the other. In anti-gender discourse, feminist and queer politics is commonly seen to be backed up and disseminated by global corporations. Thus, in a time when nationalist ultra-conservative movements are increasingly challenging neoliberal hegemony and political and economic elites, there is a need for progressive movements on the left to understand specifically how anti-gender rhetoric is underpinned by a critique of corporate power. Through empirical analysis of the Canadian-based web-portal LifeSite, this article examines the ideological ‘grip’ of anti-establishment anti-gender discourse as well as the weakest points in its critique of market capitalism and corporate power in order to identify entry points for their politically effective contestation.