De-Democratization and Opposition to Gender Equality Politics in Europe

Over the last decade, several European Union (EU) Member States have experienced unprecedented processes of de-democratization with negative consequences for equality and social justice. Democracy as an ideal and practice is connected to equality, openness, universality, rights, inclusion, participation, and contestation. De-democratization in turn comes in many forms: in the spread of authoritarian radical right populism and an explicit backlash against democratic values and practices (Brown 2019; Runciman 2018). De-democratization exposes the fragility but also the resilience of democratic institutions and practices. Its consequences for equality include the growth of far-right parties with explicit anti-gender, anti-feminist, anti-migration, and/or homo-/transphobic components. On the one hand, these have potential spill-over effects on more mainstream parties and politics that can roll back their commitments to gender equality and even democratic values. On the other hand, civil society and movements, political parties and politicians, and political institutions can become more vocal about the...