Democracy Talk #14: Anti-gender mobilization of the far right

Anti-gender mobilization has become a central strategic project of the far right, extending far beyond isolated protests or fringe reactions. Increasingly, “gender” operates as a flexible and unifying concept that enables far-right actors - often in alliance with conservative and religious forces - to wage broader cultural battles and mobilize opposition against feminist, LGBTQ+, wider liberal social change, and democracy.

Why has “gender” become such a potent political battlefield? How do these movements connect to broader authoritarian tendencies? And what does this mean for understanding current democratic tensions and political developments?

We will address these and other questions in this Democracy Talk with our guest Prof. em. Birgit Sauer (University of Vienna), whose research fields include governance and gender. She will outline how these dynamics are embedded in ongoing social and political transformations marked by processes of authoritarization and fascisization. Drawing on examples from Austria, we will focus on how anti-gender discourse functions as a powerful mobilizing tool, while also examining the role of online spaces such as the manosphere in shaping contemporary masculinist narratives. The talk will offer key insights into the normalization of anti-gender mobilization, its central role in far-right politics, and its broader implications for democracy.