Just a joke? Humour and gender in a far-right party

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6423481
AutoresElisa Bellè (0000-0001-6475-8038, University of Glasgow, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume12
Fascículo1
Páginas34-56
Data de publicação2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEuropean Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2325-4815 • E-ISSN: 2325-4823
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1162/ecps_a_00003
OpenAlexW4410301006
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas56

The populist radical right (PRR), or far right, frequently resorts to jokes, irony, and humour, particularly in relation to major markers of ideology and identity such as gender/sexuality. Despite the empirical factuality of such humour—from the sexist outbursts of Trump to the homophobic jokes of Bolsonaro—few contributions have analysed the humoristic performances of this political family. The article aims to fill this gap by focusing on the Italian League (former Northern League). Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a local branch, I identify two main humorous codes, corresponding to two different socio-political functions: ‘humour as male-inflicted punishment’ and ‘humour as virility battle’. The paper illuminates the intertwinement of power and gender hierarchies, reproduced through sexist humour in the branch. It also shows how humoristic codes employed by national leaders circulate in the branch, in a process of remodulation of gender, ideology, and sexism between micro and macro levels of politics

Advertising · Art · Business · Far right · Joke · Literature · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Humor Studies and Applications · Law · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics