Anti-Gender Politics and the Reconfiguration of Democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Anti-gender mobilizations have emerged in Bosnia and Herzegovina only recently; however, they have already had a considerable impact on politics, raising questions about its links to de-democratization and political equality in BiH. In both entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FbiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS)—political actors have drawn on either anti-gender demands from local civil society groups or transnational anti-gender discourses. In doing so, they have increasingly introduced anti-gender positions into legislation and policies, albeit with the situation in the RS being more concerning. For instance, the government of the RS led by Milorad Dodik’s SNSD (Alliance of Independent Social Democrats) halted the harmonization of a law on protection from domestic violence with the Istanbul Convention. This followed mobilizations by a small group of so-called ‘civil society’ organizations in 2024, citing fears of the destruction of the ‘traditional family’ and the alleged ‘introduction of LGBT+ rights’ through the ‘back door.’ Drawing on qualitative data from documents of anti-gender actors, parliamentary debates, and interviews with activists, NGO representatives, and experts, and on theoretical debates on democracy (Rancière 2006; Brown 2019), this paper examines how anti-gender politics in BiH are linked to a broader process of de-democratization. I show, first, that as anti-gender politics are being incorporated into laws, governments are expanding their power over specific groups within the population. Thus, this quasi–state-led anti-gender politics (Özbay and İpecki 2024) in BiH is paving the way for (further) authoritarian measures. Second, the legitimization of such measures—advanced by both governments and anti-gender actors from civil society—is redefining democracy itself, particularly its principle of political equality. The question of who is eligible to be part of the demos—to act as a political subject—is being increasingly contested. Overall, this paper, analysing the specificities of anti-gender politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina, provides insight into the relationship between anti-gender politics and de-democratization—a connection that remains insufficiently explored both theoretically and empirically. By focusing on discursive, policy-related and legal processes, the paper highlights how anti-gender politics are reconfiguring the meaning and practice of democracy in contemporary BiH.