ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relations between populism and gender in European Union (EU) member states and EU institutions. It presents the concept of populism and key issues in scholarly debates on populism in mainstream and gender research. Populism is a contested concept with contextual variations. Scholars often disagree about its definition, the relations between right-wing and left-wing populism as well as its relation to democracy and liberal values. The recent rise of left-wing populism in Europe has provoked scholarly debates about the similarities and differences between right-wing and left-wing parties and movements. Feminist scholarship has begun to explore relations of gender equality, sexuality and the family to populism. Gender scholars have not explicitly conceptualized the relationship between gender and populism, but many have analysed the links between gender and the nation, nationalism /nativism and autochthonic politics.
