Disclosing Inequalities: Gender and Patterns of Political Participation Among the Italian Youth

Scholarship on gender and political participation has focused on electoral politics, mostly looking at the differences in voting behaviour between women and men, and at the levels of representation of women in political institutions and decision-making bodies. Drawing on a unique survey data on Italy with booster samples for young people, this chapter explores how the gender dimension intersects with other sources of inequalities and experiences of socialisation to account for patterns of political participation. While support for populist right-wing forces (and their agenda consisting of anti-migrant and anti-feminist/gender policies) increased in Italy over the last few years, the feminist movement also gained momentum. Indeed, we suggest that the politicisation of young women can help to make sense of the closing gender gap, especially in demonstrative-confrontational repertoires of action.