Transfeminist politics and populist counterattacks in Italy

ABSTRACT

The article examines the Italian political sphere in order to highlight how populist discourses are, among other things, a reaction to feminist and transfeminist practices and theories. The article begins by examining the emergence of right-wing populist discourses and their link to the reproduction of a hegemonic masculinity and the patriarchal family. Then it analyses several discourses promoted by transfeminist movements – especially Non Una Di Meno [Not One Less] – focusing in particular on the emergence of the term “transfeminism” in Italy and its use in political practices. Ultimately, the article questions the possibility of building alliances and collective political subjects, starting from the challenge to the female subject brought about by transfeminism. The article claims that populist policies in defence of the traditional family do nothing but co-opt the language of liberation movements while demanding adherence to the status quo, and that transfeminist theories are the clearest response to these same populist politics. Indeed, feminism and transfeminism dispute the rhetoric of a unitary and coherent people, starting by their questioning universality in the name of partiality.

KEYWORDS:

• Transfeminism
• feminism
• Italy
• political movements
• populism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. A notable exception is March 8^th, 2020 due to Covid-19.

2. In Spain, the term “transfeminism” appeared for the first time at the Jornadas Feministas Estatales in 2000 in Córdoba in two papers: “El vestido nuevo de la emperatriz” by the Grup de Lesbianes Feministes de Barcelona and “Mujer o trans? La inserción de las transsexuales en el moviemiento feminista,” by Pérez (2000).

3. According to Foucault, subjectivation is “the procedure by which one obtains the constitution of a subject, or more precisely, of a subjectivity” (Foucault 1988, 253).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carlotta Cossutta

Carlotta Cossutta is a postdoctoral researcher in Political Philosophy at the University of Eastern Piedmont. She is a member of Politesse research centre (University of Verona) and of the GIFTS network. Her research interests include the history of women’s political thought, feminist and queer theories, and critical theory.