A para(t)oxic relationship between conservatives and climate. Analyzing climate denial in the frames of the Estonian Conservative People's Party EKRE and their embeddedness in toxic masculinity

Sammanfattning: The nexus between the far-right ideologies, toxic masculinity, and climate denial urgently calls for more research. Drawing on intersectional feminist theory and framing theory, a qualitative frame analysis based on the Estonian Far-Right Populist Party’s (EKRE) conservative news platform was conducted to scrutinize the role of toxic masculinity in legitimizing climate denial. As research reveals, EKRE’s climate denialist attitudes are strongly embedded in toxic masculinity: EKRE’s authoritarian, anti-globalist, and anti-immigrant stance, merged with the glorification of rationality manifests in the portrayal of climate mitigation as an ‘economic suicide’ imposed by ‘green totalitarians’ with a threat to national security. EKRE’s ‘hysteric’ climate frame signals that climate action is anti-masculine. By emphasizing nature protection over climate action and depoliticizing the climate conversation, the business-as-usual is justified while the urgent need for a political change remains unaddressed. To overcome climate denial in the far-right, challenging toxic masculinity should be the first crucial step.