Gender and its Discontents. Conceptualizing ‘War on Gender’ in the Context of the Rise of Illiberal Populism

Abstract

While resistance to feminisms and gender equality policies is not new, in recent years we have witnessed a new phase of this trend. Contemporary ‘war on gender’ is a transnational and local resurgence of social conservatism and religious fundamentalism, which targets ‘gender’ as one its main enemies claiming that gender equality policies, reproductive and sexual rights, gender studies and feminist research are the ultimate threat to ‘traditional family’, human dignity and Christian civilization. Most analyses of this phenomenon focus on specific cases of opposition to gender equality, sex education, LGBTQI rights and feminism (Case 2012, Favier 2015, Kováts and Põim 2015, Paternotte 2014). This session aims to offer new conceptualizations of anti-genderism and to explain the role that these new forms of organization and discourse play in the rise of illiberal populist forces to power.

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