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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 21:6 (2022) ► pp.847–866

Language and culture wars

The far right’s struggle against gender-neutral language

ORCID logo | Dublin City University

The far right has launched its own particular crusade against gender-neutral language (GNL). In this article, I examine how the parties Rassemblement National, in France, and Vox, in Spain, instrumentalise discursively their opposition to GNL as part of their overall political strategy of confronting social change. By using a culture war framework, I critically analyse the connections between the polarised representations of language and those of other fronts of cultural conflict that the far right directs against adversary groups. I show that both political parties have co-opted language into the culture wars they pursue on other fronts, albeit with significant differences. I argue that in addition to the idea of a single overall struggle based on moral differences and cultural cleavages, culture wars are also to be understood as interconnected fronts in different spheres of contention that the far right strategically exploits.

Keywords: far right, gender-neutral language, culture war, language policy, France, Spain
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Culture wars and the far right
  • 3.The far right and language: The different ideological axis of GNL
  • 4.The study
  • 5.GNL in oppositional politics
    • 5.1Struggle against GNL in France
      • The context
      • GNL vs physical safety and the “valuable” feminism
      • GNL vs economic and material security
    • 5.2Struggle against GNL in Spain
      • The context
      • GNL vs freedom from impositions
      • GNL vs ideology-free values and policies
  • 6.Discussion and concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 3 June 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.21050.erd
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