Local Politics and Anti-Gender Mobilizations: Municipalities’ Strategies to Fight for Gender Equality

This paper examines the discursive and institutional strategies used by gender equality advocates in local governance in Turkey to counter, resist and/or cope with anti-gender mobilizations. Based on the analysis of municipal reports and interviews with gender experts, policy makers and their key allies in metropolitan and district municipalities, as well as members of municipal and city councils in 8 cities in Turkey, we identify institutional strategies and discursive frameworks constructed and used by local government actors to influence urban politics and urban life from a gender perspective. We also highlight the implications of these strategies for alliance and coalition building with, and intersectional inclusion of, women's and LGBTI+ groups. As such, this paper contributes to debates on the role of local politics in countering anti-gender and de-democratizing forces.