Europe-wide study of ‘anti-gender’ politics launches

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 - 09:30

Media Studies - Gavan Titley - Maynooth University
A project looking into the development of so-called ‘anti-gender’ politics across Europe has been formally launched in Dublin today.
 
The RESIST study will run for four years and is backed by over €4 million of funding, including support from the European Union, and UK and Swiss governments.
 
RESIST will examine politics that seek to limit gendered freedoms, trans* inclusion, multiculturalism, gender and sexual equality. 
 
Professor Gavan Titley, from the Department of Media Studies in Maynooth University and the Investigator leading on political and media analysis said:
 
”The RESIST project will map how ‘anti-gender’ politics are expressed, listen to those affected by it, collaborate with organisations countering ‘anti-gender’ politics, generate key understandings and tools, and share these with diverse stakeholders and social groups.” 
 
RESIST will work with grassroots collectives and organisations in eight countries: Ireland, Spain, Belarus, France, Switzerland, Poland, Germany and Greece – and will also involve people living in exile across Europe due to ‘anti-gender’ politics. 
 
Prof Kath Browne, project leader at University College Dublin said:
 
“This is a big moment for our consortium’s effort to contest these so-called ‘anti-gender’ politics. The project will explore the consequences these political developments have on lived experiences, freedom of speech, academic freedom, reproductive justice, and gender and sexual diversity in Europe.”
 
“’Anti-gender’ movements span the political spectrum and are apparent not only in illiberal and authoritarian regimes but also in democracies considered liberal and inclusive. It is therefore important that we understand how these manifest—and also how they are resisted.”
 
The project is co-ordinated by University College Dublin in collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University, European University Viadrina, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Université de Lausanne, Université de Fribourg, Maynooth University, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and Feminist Autonomous Centre for research.
 
More information about the project on its website: https://theresistproject.eu