Dr. Laura Montecchio

Laura is an Assistant Professor at Forward College’s Paris campus. Her research sits at the intersection of populism, elitism, and gender with a focus on far-right parties in Western Europe.

Laura holds a PhD in Politics from King’s College London. Her doctoral thesis, The Elitism of the Populist Radical Right, examines the Rassemblement National, Alternative für Deutschland, Lega, and Fratelli d’Italia through a feminist critical discourse analysis of manifestos and social media, challenging the dominant anti-elitism paradigm in populist radical right scholarship.

Prior to joining Forward College, Laura taught across a range of modules in Politics and International Relations at King’s College London, Goldsmiths University, and UC Berkeley, bringing extensive experience in teaching international cohorts.

Her ongoing research projects include a co-authored monograph on far-right women leaders in Western Europe, a journal article on women in pro-life movements in Poland and Italy, and a co-authored paper examining the ‘tradwife’ phenomenon as a gendered expression of contemporary populist narratives.

• Gender and sexuality in the populist radical right
• Immigration and religion in the populist radical right
• Political elitism
• Women’s political leadership

• PS2082 Comparative Politics
• PS3086 Democracy: Transition, Consolidation and Backsliding

• Griffini, M. and Montecchio, L. (2026). Strongwomen? Female Leaders in the Populist
  Radical Right in France and Italy. Politics & Gender, First View, pp. 1–19.
  https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X26100750
• Montecchio, L. (2025). A gendered perspective on Italy’s surrogacy ban: legal, political
  and social implications, European Journal of Gender and Politics. Doi:
  https://doi.org/10.1332/25151088Y2025D000000096
• Montecchio, L. (2024). Italy’s Populist Radical Right and Anti-Gender Discourses: Lega, FdI and the Zan Bill, The International Spectator. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2024.2386288