Anti-Gender Mobilizations in the Post-Yugoslav Space Hidden Connection

Abstract

The papers collected in this volume scrutinize anti-gender mobilizations in seven post-Yugoslav countries. Each of them portrays the national manifestations of the transnational narrative on ‘gender ideology/theory’. They do this by looking into relevant contexts, main actors, discursive practices and the mobilization strategies they employ. Since anti-gender mobilizations belong to newer socio-political phenomena (Kuhar & Paternotte, 2017), all papers focus on temporally recent developments. Notably, these campaigns result in similar outcomes across the region, irrespective of the varying levels of progressive gender equality legislation. This demonstrates how global ideologies are localized and adapted to specific cultural and political contexts, with the post-Yugoslav space serving as a compelling case study. We therefore suggest that this region offers a unique and underexplored lens for examining anti-gender mobilizations in a global context. Far from being a peripheral or isolated case, the post-Yugoslav space illustrates how global anti-gender narratives are translated and adapted to local contexts. Our analysis reveals that while the rhetoric and strategies of antigender actors in the post-Yugoslav space often mirror global trends, the region’s ethno-nationalist legacies and varied Europeanization trajectories imbue these campaigns with distinct characteristics. For this reason, we propose a reading that positions the post-Yugoslav space as a miniature showroom, a ‘microcosm’ of how anti-gender politics germinates and branches out. The collected volume demonstrates how the implementation of discursive and policy strategies leads to complementary results in purportedly different contexts, albeit at different paces