Negotiating transition without women: is Orban’s hostility to gender equality rewriting democratization?

This paper examines processes of democratization and struggle for democracy in post-communist Hungary through the lens of civil resistance. Based on the premise that inclusive democratization processes lead to better quality democracy it analyses gender inclusiveness of 13 major protest campaigns and protest events (critical junctures) that took place in Hungary since the transition to democracy started. The analysis focuses on three dimensions: participation of women among organizers and speakers, participation of women’s organizations among organizers and speakers, and gender sensitivity in framing of protest claims. The paper aims to understand changes over time in inclusiveness of pro-democracy civil resistance and considers potentials for a more egalitarian democracy resulting from current patterns of civil resistance and struggle for democracy. The Hungarian case is particularly interesting given the almost complete absence of women and sensitivity to gender equality in the first 20 years of the post-communist period and the potential of shifting trends given centrality of anti-gender tropes in the last 10 years of de-democratization