Constellations of Anti-Gender Politics: Positionality, Connectivity, and the Effects of Mobilization across CEE and the NME/SWANA Region

During the last decade, anti-gender politics has emerged as one of the most visible and consequential global currents of reactionary mobilization. Initially conceived as a set of national campaigns against what was labeled “gender ideology” (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017), these movements have since revealed themselves to be transnationally entangled and circulating ideas, strategies, and affective repertoires across regions, while adapting to local political, religious, and cultural settings (Graff & Korolczuk, 2022; Ojeda, Holzberg & Holvikivi, 2024). This paper conceptualizes anti-gender politics as constellations—relational configurations of actors whose transnational connectivity and local positionality jointly shape the strength and direction of reactionary mobilization. Moving beyond a view of anti-gender politics as a unified movement, it explores how actors across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Near and Middle East (NME)/ South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) draw on shared infrastructures of conservative advocacy, at the same time adapting to distinct political, religious, and cultural settings. Integrating transnational advocacy network theory, actor-network theory, and relational approaches to power, the paper traces how the intersection of connectivity (e.g. co-sponsorship or joint events, funding) and positionality (institutional, moral, or communicative authority) generates different effects. The implications of successful anti-gender politics range from discursive shifts that normalize anti-gender language in public debates, to policy changes that reshape educational or family programs, and legislative amendments that codify binary gender norms or restrict sexual and reproductive rights. By mapping these constellations, we advance a comparative framework for understanding how anti-gender mobilizations transform governance and reconfigure the relationship between state, civil society, and reactionary movements.