This book charts the new phase of global struggles around gender equality and sexual democracy: the ultraconservative mobilization against "gender ideology" and feminist efforts to counteract it. It argues that anti-gender campaigns, which emerged around 2010 in Europe, are not a simple continuation of the anti-feminist backlash dating back to the 1970s, but part of a new political configuration. Opposition to "gender" has become a key element of the rise of right-wing populism, which successfully harnesses the anxiety, shame and anger caused by neoliberalism and threatens to destroy liberal democracy. Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment offers a novel conceptualization of the relationship between the ultraconservative anti-gender movement and right-wing populist parties, examining the opportunistic synergy between these actors. The authors map the anti-gender campaigns as a global movement, putting the Polish case in a comparative perspective. They show that the anti-gender rhetoric is best understood as a reactionary critique of neoliberalism as a socio-cultural formation. The book also studies the recent wave of feminist mass mobilizations, viewing the transnational revolt of women as a left populist movement. This is an important study for those doing research in politics, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies and sociology. It will also be useful for activists and policy makers.
Author(s): Agnieszka Graff, Elżbieta Korolczuk
Series: Routledge Studies in Gender, Sexuality and Politics
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF
Pages: 213
City: London
Tags: Sex Discrimination Against Women: Political Aspects: Poland; Anti-Feminism: Political Aspect: Poland; Populism: Social Aspects: Poland; Conservatism: Social Aspects: Poland; Women: Political: Poland; Sex Discrimination Against Women: Political Aspects; Populism: Social Aspects; Anti-Feminism: Political Aspects; Conservatism: Social Aspects; Women: Political Activity
Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Demonization of “Gender” and the Crisis of Democracy
Gender in the Populist Moment
Positionality and Methods
The Aims and Contents of the Book
Notes
1 Gender, Anti-Gender and Right-Wing Populism: Recasting the Debate
Gender, Anti-Genderism and Anti-Gender Mobilization
Conceptualizing Contemporary Right-Wing Populism
The Role of Affects and Emotions in Right-Wing Politics
Questioning the Symbiosis Between Neoliberalism and Right-Wing Politics
Populist Revolt Or Elite Change?
Notes
2 Mapping the Anti-Gender Campaigns as a Global Movement: From Religious Trend to Political Struggle
Religious Origins of Anti-Gender Campaigns
From the Vatican to Verona: How a Religious Movement Became a Political One
The Moral and Political Geography of the Anti-Gender Movement: Does the East-West Divide Matter?
Protecting Children and Families: Moralizing the Socio-Economic Crisis
Knowledge Production and Expertise: Academia as a Site of Struggle
Anti-gender Campaigns and Feminist Mobilization: the Dynamics of Political Struggle
3 “Worse Than Communism and Nazism Put Together”: Poland’s Anti-Gender Campaigns in a Comparative Perspective
Saving the Children and the Nation: Actors and Goals of Anti-Gender Campaigns in Poland
Setting the Stage: the First Phase of Anti-Gender Campaigns in Poland
Strengthening the Ties: the Second and Third Phases of Anti-Gender Campaigns in Poland
Political (Ab)uses of Gender: Who Is Afraid of “Gender Ideology”?
Femonationalism vs Good Old Nationalism? Poland in Comparative Perspective
Conclusions
Notes
4 Gender as “Ebola From Brussels”: The Uses and Abuses of the Anti-Colonial Frame
Defenders of the Common People: “Gender” as Colonial Imposition
The Anti-Colonial Frame in Practice: Poland as Victim of the Gender Invasion
How the East Will Save the West: Moral Geography of Anti-Gender Campaigns and Worldview
Theoretical and Political Implications of the Anti-Colonial Frame
Conclusion
Note
5 Anxious Parents and Children in Danger: The Family as a Refuge From Neoliberalism
Family Heroes and Motherless Children: Politicized Parenthood in Verona and Paris
Parental Movements as a Conservative Response to Neoliberalism
Shaming the Shamers, Protecting the Not-Yet-Born: the Political Emotions of Anti-Genderism
Conclusions
Note
6 Counteracting Anti-Gender Movements: Toward a Populist Feminism?
A New Wave of Feminist Organizing: Women Opposing Right-Wing Populism
The Black Protests’ Story: Mobilization Against the Ultraconservative Agenda in Poland
Local Struggle in a Global Context
Explaining the Success of Black Protests: Why it Happened and Why it Worked
Populist Feminism – the Extraordinary Power of “Ordinary Women”
Conclusions
Conclusion: Gender in the Populist Moment
References
Index
