Conservatives vs. the “culture of death”. How progressives handled the war on “gender”?

Policy Study

Transnational anti-gender mobilizations emerged almost simultaneously throughout the years 2012-2013 all over Europe, seriously challenging women’s and minorities’ rights, and attempting to undermine the very foundations of liberal democracy. Countries such as Croatia, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain became the stages of fierce attacks on gender equality and the rights of sexual minorities, as well as attempts to revoke the post-war international consensus on human rights. It was not long before progressives around Europe started to address these new conservative movements. This paper aims to present and critically evaluate these progressive reactions. First, we provide a short overview of existing academic literature and reflect on the anthropological and political foundations of the anti-gender campaign. We then provide numerous typologies of progressive responses, and follow up with their critical evaluation, pointing to broader structural causes behind the rise of anti-gender movements. Finally, we provide recommendations as to how current responses to the anti-gender campaign could be improved. Keywords: anti-genderism, gender ideology, conservative politics, right wing, fundamentalism, cultural wars, progressive politics. 

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