Article by Amira-Nadia Janneh

Photo by Austrian National Library on Unsplash

The wall street crash of 1929, 1970s stagflation, the 2020s cost of living crisis; all at different points in time but all revealing the recurring cycle in society that has yet to be broken. Each economic crisis has resulted in the dismantling of progressive social changes for marginalised groups. With Gen Z being labelled as the most progressive generation in regard to political and social issues it calls into question why this cycle is being repeated during the cost-of-living crisis of the 2020s.

When extreme financial instability occurs within a society, those living in it rightfully so fear the effects that this has on all aspects of their life such as; their families, education, employment, health and more. To social conservatives the family is the foundation of all society[1] and a transition away from the white heteronormative family signals a breakdown in all social institutions and those who deviate from this conventional image are scapegoated and blamed for causing the social insecurities that society is facing. The religious aspects of marriage support less progressive gender ideologies such as single sex marriages, bioessentialism and purity culture. Despite the gains made in marginalised genders’ rights over the last century, when periods of financial instability occur those who don’t fit this traditional view of gender become ostracised by a large portion of society. This is exacerbated by social media platforms such as TikTok which is often originally an outlet for people to escape the difficulties in their lives. Users turn towards media that reflects a time of economic success, such as the recent online popularity of being a ‘trad wife’. This represents the 1950s housewife which was during a time of American economic success. The popularity of this aesthetic has allowed for the heteronormative family to become popular once again, resulting in views on marriage, gender roles, abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism and more to slowly return to 1950s standards.

Views on race have also begun to regress at the hands of right-wing populists who use an already marginalised group as a scapegoat for the current issues in society[2]. The Nazi’s blamed Jews for the high unemployment levels after the 1929 wall street crash, and once elected into government Jewish people, the LGBTQ+ and many other groups were put into concentration camps. Currently immigrants are being blamed for the difficulties that British natives face to gain employment. The ethnonationalist attitudes of many has created extreme hostility and rising islamophobia in the UK.

Furthermore, in politics women are seen as a commodity[3], as issues such as gender-based violence are only relevant when being used to push a broader narrative of white supremacy. Far right supporters remain inconsistent in their views on gender-based violence as media savvy personalities such as Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinison overstate the danger of immigrant men to white women and children whilst ignoring the hate crimes that their supporters commit towards ethnic minority women. Therefore, gender minorities within ethnic minorities suffer the most of all during an economic crisis.

Religion[4] and economics[5] are both decisive factors in electoral choices. Right wing politicians use this to their advantage by creating an economic scapegoat and having views that are similar to the church. Significant Catholic figures laid the groundwork for the beginnings of the anti-gender movement during the 1990s[6], which has resulted in religion no longer being separate from politics. Right wing governments create policies that reject post binary definitions of gender, such as Trump signing an executive order that recognises only two sexes which are not able to be changed[7]. Additionally, Reform UK, a rising British political party, plan to create policies that ban what they call transgender ideology in primary and secondary schools in an attempt to stop “gender questioning” or “pronoun swapping”, [8] The online realm has made spreading anti-genderism easier and spreading these conservative views can be seen as trendy (Castells 2020). This combined with the recent decline in transgender rights signals an alarming move towards society normalising the demonisation of gender.

These changes occurring are a tool of social engineering which will ultimately create a generation of people who only have bio-essentialist views of gender. By doing this religion, white supremacy, and the patriarchy will remain at the heart of society. In spite of the rising levels of social conservatism there is still a chance for positive change. The recent popularity of the Green party in the UK and the mayoral win of Zohran Mamdani in New York suggests that the world is beginning to remember the importance of social inclusion and the rights of minorities. This will ultimately lead to a better functioning society for everyone.

References

[1] Cooper, M. (2017). Family values : between neoliberalism and the new social conservatism (p. 9). Zone Books. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/manchester/reader.action?docID=4873381&c=UERG&ppg=10

[2] Wodak, R. (2015). The Politics of Fear (p. 2). SAGE. https://research-ebsco-com.manchester.idm.oclc.org/c/gv5qc5/ebook-viewer/pdf/vm6uj5shkf/page/pp_i

[3] Wodak, R. (2015b). The Politics of Fear (p. 157). SAGE. https://research-ebsco-com.manchester.idm.oclc.org/c/gv5qc5/ebook-viewer/pdf/vm6uj5shkf/page/pp_iv?location=https%25253A%25252F%25252Fresearch-ebsco-com.manchester.idm.oclc.org%25252Fc%25252Fgv5qc5%25252Fsearch%25252Fdetails%25252Fvm6uj5shkf%25253Fdb%25253Dnlebk%252526db%25253Dnlabk

[4] Lumley, S. (2024, September 27). US Elections 2024: How religious beliefs are changing in the US and how it will impact the election. Sky News; Sky. https://news.sky.com/story/us-elections-2024-how-will-religion-impact-the-vote-13222464

[5] Doherty, C., Kiley, J., & Deane, C. (2024, November 13). What Trump Supporters Believe and Expect. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/11/13/what-trump-supporters-believe-and-expect/

[6] Graff, A., & Korolczuk, E. (2021). Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment. Routledge.

[7] Wendling, M., & Epstein, K. (2025, January 20). Trump makes “two sexes” official and scraps DEI policies. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czx84en1yp4o

[8] Reform UK. (2024). Our Contract with You (p. 13). Reform UK. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/reformuk/pages/253/attachments/original/1718625371/Reform_UK_Our_Contract_with_You.pdf?1718625371

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