We sit down with Dr Eviane Leidig, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Tilburg University, to discuss her new book, The women of the far right: social media influencers and online radicalisation. Join us live on Facebook and YouTube; members will receive an invitation to join on Zoom.

About The Women of the Far Right

Eviane Leidig offers an in-depth look into the world of far-right women influencers, exploring the digital lives they cultivate as they seek new recruits for white nationalism. Going beyond stereotypes of the typical male white supremacist, she uncovers how young, attractive women are playing key roles as propagandists, organizers, fundraisers, and entrepreneurs. Leidig argues that far-right women are marketing themselves as authentic and accessible in order to reach new followers and spread a hateful ideology. This insidious—and highly gendered—strategy takes advantage of the structure of social media platforms, where far-right women influencers’ content is shared with and promoted to mainstream audiences. Providing much-needed expertise on gender and the far right, this timely and accessible book also details online and offline approaches to countering extremism. The Women of the Far Right is published by Columbia University Press.

About Eviane Leidig

Eviane Leidig is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University. She is affiliated with the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo, the Global Network on Extremism and Technology in London, and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague. She has been featured by The Independent, Al Jazeera, BBC, Australia Broadcasting Corporation, and Bellingcat, among others.

Read more about Eviane at her website or follow her on Twitter.