Women and Extremism: The Untold History

Women have long played a complex and often-overlooked role in extremist movements, from the radical ideologies of the past to the forces shaping the present. In this thought-provoking discussion, researcher Anca Diana Axinia will explore the contradictions, motivations, and impact of women in radical movements. From a deep dive into the role of women in Romania’s interwar fascist movement to insights into broader patterns of female extremism across history, this conference followed by a conversation, moderated by RCI director Dorian Branea, will challenge assumptions and expose the unsettling intersections of gender, power, and ideology.

Anca Diana Axinia received her PhD in history from the European University Institute in Florence in 2022. Her dissertation, "Women and Politics in the Romanian Legionary Movement", is the first systematic study of women’s participation and gender relations in the Romanian Legionary Movement. In 2023-2024, she was a fellow at the New Europe College in Bucharest, where she conducted research on the Bucharest pogrom. Over the past few years, she presented her research at many conferences organized by different universities and institutes, such as the universities of Uppsala, Vienna, Dusseldorf, and the European University Institute, the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies and the Institute for Balkan Studies in Belgrade. Publication of her research findings has begun in 2023 with an article in the European Review of History and chapters in two forthcoming edited volumes published by Brill and Bloomsbury Academics. Dr. Axinia is currently a research fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.