“Muscular MASCULINITY is reinforcing itself in the realm of SECURITY” Toni Haastrup & Lina Gálvez

🎧 In the spirit of #IWD2026, listen to the latest episode of FEPS Talks focusing on #FeministForeignPolicy with Lina Gálvez, FEPS Vice-President and MEP and Toni Haastrup, Chair in Global Politics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester.

🌎 ♀️ As debates around multilateralism intensify and the global order shifts, rules we thought were here to stay are suddenly under threat. #FeministForeignPolicy can open a pathway to embed gender-responsive, justice-oriented thinking and an accountability framework into international relations, and to rethink what security, cooperation, and power should look like.

In this conversation, Lina Gálvez, FEPS Vice-President and Chair of FEPS Scientific Council; S&D MEP and Chair of Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, and Toni Haastrup, Professor and Chair in Global Politics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, discuss #FeministForeignPolicy in depth.

Foreign affairs is still designed with masculine power at its core, and feminists, especially women and the LGBTQIA+ community, continue to be underrepresented in this area – despite evidence proving a positive effect of diverse negotiation teams. They also warn about the growing anti-gender backlash and the political efforts to weaken democracy by targeting feminist movements.

At a time of shrinking aid and increasing geopolitical competition, they stress the need for global #FeministSolidarity and renewed commitment to equality and human security.

The podcast recording is part of the initiative by FEPS in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung on the Feminist Foreign Policy Progressive Voices Collective (FFPPVC). The Collective questions traditional approaches to foreign policy to enable an alternative account of foreign relations from the standpoint of the most disadvantaged. The work of the Collective provides insights into what might be the most challenging questions regarding feminist foreign policy today. You can explore our Policy Brief series HERE. 

The Collective is co-chaired by Ann Linde, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and Machris Cabreros, Co-Chair of the network and Coordinator at Progressive Alliance.

This podcast was produced in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung EU Office.