De-democratisation and opposition to gender equality politics in Europe

This contribution was delivered on 4 May 2023 on the occasion of the hybrid 2023 edition of EUI State of the Union on 'Building Europe in times of uncertaintly' ; In spite of the EU´s constitutional commitment to gender equality and mainstreaming, over the last decade, several EU member states have experienced growth of far-right parties with an explicit anti-gender, anti-feminist and/or homo-transphobic component, with spill-over effects on more mainstream parties and politics which have rolled back on their commitment to gender equality and democratic values. This panel will address the intersections of such de-democratisation processes with gender and other inequalities, by focusing on contemporary forms of ‘opposition to gender equality’ and their relationship to democratic backsliding.