Part of Women`s History Month at RCI
About the Event
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 and intelligence analyst Esther Adaire 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 conversation, moderated by RCI director Dorian Branea, will challenge assumptions and expose the unsettling intersections of gender, power, and ideology.
About the Panelists
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.
E. ELIZABETH (EFFY) ADAIRE is a New York-based historian and political analyst focusing on trends in terrorism and counterterrorism. Originally from London, UK, she holds a Ph.D. in History from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Adaire’s first book, Neo-Nazi Postmodern, examined trends in right-wing extremist thought as well as the tactical and organizational evolution of neo-Nazi terror groups in Germany since reunification. Current research topics relate to the breakdown of information in today’s technological landscape, and lone wolf extremists. In her former life as an undergraduate professor, Adaire lectured and taught courses on topics such as Terrorism, Global Politics, Military History, War and Genocide, Fascism and Authoritarianism, Cybersecurity, and the History of Technology.