Feminism, neoliberalism and the ‘Great Moving Right Show’

Soundings - Print ISSN 1362-6620 - Online ISSN 1741-0797
Volume 2025 Number 90 & 91

Feminism, neoliberalism and the ‘Great Moving Right Show’
Angela McRobbie pages 238‑256
DOI: 10.3898/SOUN:90-91.15.202

Abstract

This article draws closely on Stuart Hall’s analysis of the New Labour years, and his final writings on the further ‘swings to the right’ by 2013. It offers a retrospective consideration of these years through a feminist lens. It discusses the figurations of individualised youthful femininity that hallmarked the meritocratic ambitions of New Labour, including the ‘top girls’ of this era, seen as a riposte to left feminism, and paving the way for a more expansive neoliberal agenda. It further discusses post-feminism as a neoliberal dispositif: focusing on the post-feminist masquerade; the ‘phallic girl’; and neoliberal leadership feminism. The recently visible phenomenon of the ‘trad wife’ in popular culture and social media marks a fully-fledged neo-nationalist white supremacy imaginary which is able to achieve mainstream respectability across the so-called legacy media. The article argues that gender is consistently mobilised as a vector concept for the move from neoliberalism to populist authoritarianism.

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To cite this article
Angela McRobbie (2025) Feminism, neoliberalism and the ‘Great Moving Right Show’, Soundings, 2025(90 & 91 ), 238-256 . https://doi.org/10.3898/SOUN:90-91.15.202

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