Gender and Illiberalism in Central and E

This course explores how the concept of gender and the transformation of gender relations have been utilized to support the rule of authoritarian-leaning yet democratically elected politicians globally, but especially in Central and Eastern Europe. Our case studies will focus primarily on Hungary and Poland, but we will expand our geographic reach well beyond these two countries.

We will discuss the variety of ways in which illiberal leaders have constructed “gender” as the enemy in their rhetoric, the policies they have passed that are aimed at re-regulating gender relations, and the impact of these policies on social justice.

We will start the course by discussing the notion of “illiberalism” as well as its many alternatives, relying on readings by political scientists, legal scholars, and sociologists. Then we turn to the study of the global anti-gender movement and its connections to illiberal rule. We will emphasize the commonalities of and connections between the numerous local anti-gender protests, while also highlighting variations in their manifestations globally.

Finally, we will compare different layers of gender-related policies in a handful of illiberal countries in greater depth and shed light on the many varieties of illiberalism.