I have been accepted as a working group member, effective from 25 January 2026, for the Action “Democratization at Stake? Comparing Anti-Gender Politics in CEE and NME Countries” (Antigender-Politics) CA23149, carried out by European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) and funded by the European Union.
This comprehensive four-year Action aims to “historicize and analyse with an interdisciplinary and comparative approach, how anti-gender and anti-feminist mobilizations and the escalating backsliding of democratization policies are intertwined” in Eastern Europe and the Middle and Near East. Moving from the reality that these processes are shaped in the shadow of globalisation, economic crises, and geopolitical conflicts, the project scrutinises the relationship between contestations regarding gender equality norms (often termed “European values”) and neo-traditionalist ideologies, religious fundamentalism, and authoritarian tendencies. The study aims to open up for discussion that anti-gender politics are not merely a field of cultural conflict, but also part of a structural transformation paving the way for the erosion of democracy.
The two main working groups I will contribute to within this international network and the issues we will focus on are as follows:
- Revealing the Historical, Social-Political and Economic Background Conditions (WG1): In this group, which examines the background conditions of the project, research will be conducted on “which kind of social-political and socio-economic factors condition, facilitate and reproduce anti-feminist and anti-gender mobilizations”. The role of “feelings and experiences of crises and the re-configuration of societies” in the rise of these movements will be examined; the “historical legacies” to which actors refer and potential “(hidden) continuities” will be questioned. Furthermore, how gender is “culturalized” when the social and economic background of gender equality is removed from view, and the effects this “culture war” framing has on wider society will be analysed.
- Rethinking Activism and Forms of Oppositions with a Focus on Unexpected Allies (WG3): In this group, where feminist, queer, and other forms of opposition forming against anti-gender politics are addressed, the effectiveness of these oppositions and the potential of emerging “coalition partners” will be evaluated. The “power effects” of these diverse opposition groups, strategies, and coalitions over wider political regimes will be scrutinised. In this context, the role of “economic actors, including corporations and businesses”, in the formation of pro-democratic coalitions, as well as the difference of attitudes displayed by “local governments” on the “different levels of states’ hierarchies”, will be opened up for discussion.
To access the details of the Action, please click on the image below.
