Transnational Fathers’ Activism: A case study of Platform for European Fathers

Sammanfattning: Shifting gender relations and family arrangements throughout the 20th and 21st century have led to the emergence of fathers’ rights activism. Equipped with a seemingly simple call for justice, the fathers’ rights movement has influenced family law, and have become part of the public consciousness. Due to their occasionally antagonistic relationship with feminism, a lot of academic literature has been focused on analyzing fathers’ rights activism and its influence on family law. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of these groups through a case study of Platform for European Fathers (PEF), a transnational organization which represents a collaboration between several organizations that aims to work on a European policy level. To achieve this, the study made use of a qualitative thematic content analysis of PEF’s social media. The results from the analysis of their social media rhetoric suggests a shift towards progressive coalition politics, mainly due to their focus on the well-being of children. However, anti-feminist politics still exists, predominantly in the parts of their social media rhetoric which serves to further polarize men and women. This means that while PEF’s social media rhetoric suggest a change in fathers’ activism, some of the criticism the groups have received are still relevant, albeit to a lesser degree.