The Transnationalisation of Illiberalism (and Democratic Resistance) in Europe

The transnationalisation of illiberal far-right parties and social movements is increasingly evident in Europe today. While there is a growing body of research on different types of regressive illiberal political actors (for example, anti-immigration parties, anti-gender organisations) and their cross-border political mobilisation, research has tended to focus on a ‘division of labour’, pertaining to either political parties or social movements. Applying the concepts of ‘transnationalisation’ and ‘diffusion’ as used in collective action research, this article seeks to bring these strands of analysis together in a common analytical framework to understand the transnationalisation of different types of illiberal far-right actors (including both political parties and non-party organisations) in terms of organisational networks, identity frames, and protest events. All aspects of the framework will be shown through the cases of the anti-gender movement in Europe, the European ‘counter-movement’ (against the populist far right), as well as the wokeism frame.