A Failed Playbook? The Paradox of Anti-Gender Movements in Autocratizing Indonesia

In recent years, scholars have documented the global rise of anti-gender movements: coalitions that oppose emancipatory claims related to gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy, framing such claims as moral threats to society. These movements have gained traction amid the broader resurgence of right-wing populism and democratic backsliding (Roggeband and Krizsán 2020; Graff and Korolczuk 2021). While most research concentrates on the rise of anti-gender movements in the West, few studies address how such phenomenon transpires in the Global South context (Holvikivi, Holzberg, Ojeda 2024). Indonesia presents a compelling case within this global trend, as the longstanding predominantly Islamist anti-feminist groups adjust their strategies amidst democratic decline. These actors adopts socially conservative stance that promote a moral agenda rooted in Islamic orthodoxy, targeting feminism and ‘gender ideology’ as part of their broader cultural and political project. The groups have shown increased visibility over the past decade, particularly after the largest Islamist mobilisation in the country in 2016. However, they also faced significant pushback following the government’s crackdown on Islamists in 2017-2021. This paper offers the first systematic investigation into the growing visibility and influence of anti-gender movements in Indonesia. It argues that the anti-gender Islamist movements mobilise old anxieties over Western cultural invasion to legitimise their agenda. While such rhetoric is not new, the past decade has witnessed a significant transformation in the composition of actors, networks, strategies, and rhetorics. The study highlights three key shifts: first, the diversification of leaders and membership, with women increasingly playing more prominent roles and expanding the movement’s networks; second, the adoption of policy-oriented campaigns and advocacies, aimed at more direct involvement in policy-making process; and third, the change of rhetorics to align the global right-wing narratives, particularly those emphasising family values and opposing ‘gender ideology.’ Nevertheless, contrary to what we have seen in the West, Indonesia’s anti-gender network suffers from the lack of political access domestically and does not enjoy tremendous support from transnational anti-gender networks. This made them fail to advance their political agendas despite the attempts to localise the global anti-gender campaign to resonate with domestic and religious narratives.