Anti-gender policies in post-socialist European countries 2/2

Written by: Ricci Elena 

Translated by: Amina Murhebwa

13/11/2023

The profound historical and cultural changes that have affected Europe and more specifically the former Warsaw Pact countries^[1]Déclaration des pays membres du Pacte de Varsovie relative à Berlin (13 août 1961). https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/1999/1/1/af30607e-4462-4f01-acef-6facc7b78a2b/publishable_fr.pdf are essential to understanding the current political climate on issues of persistent gender inequality. The contemporary history of this region must therefore be taken into account in the study of anti-gender policies and their insertion within civil society as a societal norm. In order to understand the influence exerted on anti-gender policies in Eastern Europe, three axes must be studied: the discourse on communism, the role of the Church, and relations between post-socialist countries and the European Union. These elements are addressed respectively in this article, offering broader visibility on the construction of anti-gender policies in this region of the world.

Communist discourse and related values

In Europe, the origins of current anti-gender policies can be understood in light of the post-socialist transition, which begins with the breakdown of communist systems. The opposition between Western Europe and Eastern Europe is also a significant factor in the study of this evolution. In its struggle against “leftist” traditions, post-socialist liberalism took on an anti-communist character^[2]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. As of 2015, the favorite slogan of right-wing propaganda in Poland, next to the word “left”, is the term “neo-Marxism”^[3]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. According to this order of ideas, the Bolshevik revolution – which began in 1917 – inspired the foundations of the sexual revolution and the feminist movements in some of the countries of Western Europe, and the same wave is now about to break in Poland^[4]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. The term “neo-Marxism” is used to refer to all ideas that oppose the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church and the assumptions of conservative nationalism. The Polish right, such as the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) party, uses this term in relation to all progressive cultural changes^[5]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. In the article entitled “Bolshevik Women’s Liberation” in the weekly Do Rzeczy, Polish journalist Miroslaw Szumilo wrote: “Neo-Marxism has conquered almost the entire Western world and its ideas include the “liberation” of women, the dissolution of the family and “bourgeois morality”. Poland is still resisting these influences, which left-wing feminists deplore, and is trying to introduce here the achievements of the Bolshevik sexual revolution of more than a hundred years ago”^[6]Szumiło, M., (2020), Bolszewickie “wyzwolenie” kobiet. Do Rzeczy, 51, 20–23.  [Google Scholar].. In the article “Kaj je spol ? [What is gender ?]”, Slovenian journalist Branko Cestnik opposes theories of gender, which he describes as a direct legacy of communism. Cestnik in his article asserts that after the failure of the socio-economic revolution in the USSR and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe in the 20th century, “the European left” replaced it with the moral revolution and cultural in the 21st century, making gender theories the essence of the contemporary left^[7]Cestnik, B., (2013), Kaj je spol? [What is gender?], Branko Cestnik Blog. Retrieved from http://branenacesti. blogspot.si/2013/09/kaj-je-spol.html.

The Church as an obstacle to the affirmation of rights for gender equality

While state atheism, imposed in communist regimes during the USSR, has been preserved in countries like the Czech Republic, while other states have become more religious. By breaking with the atheist communist past, a process of return to religious tradition accompanied the democratization of the entire region in the 1990s^[8]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. The great trust placed in religious institutions allowed them to become increasingly involved in post-socialist national politics; likewise by the diffusion of traditionalist rhetoric motivated by the Christian religion^[9]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023). The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. This is the case of the Catholic Church in Poland or Croatia, the Orthodox Churches in Romania or even within the Russian Federation. All these churches have exchanged their support for various political parties for successive political concessions against women’s rights. The non-governmental organization best able to illustrate this idea is Ordo Iuris^[10]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. Strongly marked by the values ​​of Catholicism, Ordo Iuris is a Polish organization which promotes a legal culture based on Polish spiritual heritage^[11]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. According to Ordo Iuris members, the current mainstream interpretation of human rights is a form of fundamentalism, “a Marxist-inspired strategy aimed at destroying the traditional family and the natural order”^[12]Ciobanu, C., (22 June 2021), “Ordo Iuris: The Ultra-Conservative Organisation Transforming Poland.” Balkan Insight,   … Continue reading. The controversial ruling^[13]“Polska: Regres W Dostępie Do Aborcji Zagraża Życiu I Zdrowiu Kobiet – Amnesty International Polska.” Amnesty International Polska, 27 Jan. 2022. … Continue reading of the Constitutional Court in 2020, which banned the right to abortion in Poland, is only the latest result of a long campaign led by this non-governmental organization to criminalize voluntary abortion ^[14]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. The organization is also pushing for the adoption of the “Treaty on Family Rights”^[15]“The Convention on the Rights of the Family – International Guarantee in Defence of Families | Ordoiuris.” Ordoiuris.pl, 2018, the document that Warsaw wishes to replace the Istanbul Convention on the Rights of Women^[16]Benazzo, S., (14 July 2021). “Avanguardia Reazionaria | Il Ruolo Di Ordo Iuris Nel Conservatorismo Della Polonia – Linkiesta.it.” Linkiesta.it. www.linkiesta.it/2021/07/ordo-juris-polonia/, considered too liberal. The aim of the Family Rights Treaty is to create a legal guarantee of the identity and autonomy of the family. More precisely, this treaty aims to “guarantee the fundamental rights and freedoms of the most discriminated social group, the family, and to put an end to harmful ideologie”^[17]“The Convention on the Rights of the Family – International Guarantee in Defence of Families | Ordoiuris.” Ordoiuris.pl, 2018. The national Orthodox Churches of certain countries supported the refusal of the Bulgarian authorities to ratify the Istanbul Convention and the referendum on changing the constitution in Romania, as mentioned previously^[18]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. In 2012, the Croatian Catholic Church mobilized in political activism against the sex education program proposed by the left-wing government, openly supporting the political positions of neo-conservatives, such as HRAST-Movement for the Success of the Croatia. During the 2015 elections, the regime experienced a political shift from the liberal left to the right. In fact, this support has ceased to be so explicit^[19]Krizsán, A., Roggeband, C., (2019), Gendering Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe: A Comparative Agenda, Central European University, CEU CPS Books, p. 145.

The evolution of women’s rights through the prism of Eastern European and Western European relations

Political Europeanization – here understood as a process of globalization on the scale of the European continent – ​​and the perception of European Union relations in the Eastern States also play a role in the region’s anti-gender policies^[20]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. The political scientist and professor of political science at University College London, Claudio Radaelli, defined Europeanization as “a process involving (a) the construction, (b) diffusion, and (c) institutionalization of formal and informal rules, procedures, political paradigms, styles, ways of doing things and shared beliefs and norms which are first defined and consolidated in the political process of the European Union and then incorporated into the logic of national discourses (national and subnational), political structures and public policies”^[21]Saurugger, S., Radaelli, C.M., (2008) (2008) The Europeanization of Public Policies: Introduction, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and … Continue reading. There is a clear distinction between Eastern and Western Europe, based on hierarchies and power relations^[22]O’sullivan, M., Krulišová, K., (2023), ‘Women, Peace and Security in central Europe: in between the western agenda and Russian imperialism’, International Affairs, 99(2), pp.625–643. … Continue reading. The unequal relations between Eastern and Western Europe within the EU and the asymmetrical nature of so-called Europeanization have led to growing resentment against “the Western Europe”^[23]Kováts, E., (2021). “Anti-gender Politics in East-Central Europe: Right-wing Defiance to West-Eurocentrism.” Gender – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, p. 214 … Continue reading. Just as politics is exported to the social systems in which it is exercised, public policies therefore play a major role in the recognition of the rights of all. Also, social behaviour could be modified by the acceptance of certain policies. However, the survival of conservative regimes and their influence on national policies hinders the emergence of equality and the emancipation of women.

Many populist parties and representatives present in various countries of the European Union have exploited, and still exploit today, the issue of women’s rights to obtain support in their political campaigns. The issue of women’s rights is used to justify anti-immigration and Islamophobic messages. Islamophobes, authors of amalgamations between Arab people and Muslims, are also at the origin of certain xenophobic theories. Some are particularly convinced that European women, of Christian religion, are threatened by Muslim men. The threat of Muslim men to Christian women is one of the most used arguments, which combines misogyny and racism. One of the main arguments used is that of the “threat” of Muslim men to Christian women^[24]Meret, S., Siim, B., (2013). “Gender, populism and politics of belonging: discourses of right-wing populist parties in Denmark, Norway and Austria,” in Siim, B., Mokre (eds), M., Negotiating … Continue reading. Racism and misogyny seem to harmonize in the voices of the users of these arguments. Politicians such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Marine Le Pen in France and Matteo Salvini in Italy have succeeded in imposing their anti-Islam programs in the name of women’s rights. The construction of their respective political image took place in an assertive and rapid manner, although none of their programs dedicate space to women’s rights and gender issues, such as the gender question^[25]Farris, S., (2017), In the Name of Women Rights, Duke University Press. Violence against women is exploited. These politicians present European women as “helpless victims”^[26]Jäger, M., Kroppenberg, M., Nothardt, B., & Wamper, R. (2019). #120Dezibel: Frauenrechte oder Antifeminismus? Populistische Diskursstrategien der extremen Rechten und Anschlussstellen im … Continue reading of “misogynistic and dangerous”^[27]Jäger, M., Kroppenberg, M., Nothardt, B., & Wamper, R. (2019). #120Dezibel: Frauenrechte oder Antifeminismus? Populistische Diskursstrategien der extremen Rechten und Anschlussstellen im … Continue reading Muslim immigrants in order to arouse anti-Islam and anti-immigration sentiment^[28](2023)“Vista de Right-Wing Feminism and the Securitization of Migration: On the Example of the German Campaign 120 Dezibel | InterNaciones within their electorate. By considering them as such, they are mistaken about the culprits and confine women to victim status.

On the other side of Europe, particularly in Eastern countries, women’s rights are used as an anti-European Union slogan^[29]Żuk Piotr & Pacześniak, Anna. (2023). “They attack the family and order”: Right-wing media about feminists and the political consequences of the women’s strike in Poland. Frontiers in … Continue reading. The European Union, considering itself a beacon of tolerance towards women’s rights and the LGBTI+ community, has become an argument of opposition to politicians in certain Eastern European countries^[30]Slootmaeckers, K., (2020). Constructing European Union Identity through LGBT Equality Promotion: Crises and Shifting Othering Processes in the European Union Enlargement, Political Studies Review, … Continue reading. “European identity” arises as an issue of division between the nations of the European territory. Populist parties of the radical right present gender theories as symbols of a new form of Western colonization, directed against Eastern Europe and linked to “Europeanization”. This rhetoric was adopted to demobilize the generally strong support enjoyed by the institutions of the European Union^[31]Graff, A., Korolczuk, E. (2022), Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment, Routledge. Opponents of gender ideology, such as in Poland, compare communism and the introduction of “gender theory” in their country, claiming that both were imposed on Poles^[32]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. Although the anti-gender dialectic is directly linked to anti-European Union sentiment in a political sense, it is in fact pro-European in a geographical and cultural sense. Right-wing governments present themselves as bastions of European culture, particularly Christian culture, against gender theories^[33]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. Viktor Orbán, the president of Hungary, proclaimed himself “saviour of European culture”, saying in 2019 that his re-election would mean “the salvation of Christian and European culture”^[34]Martijn Mos, (2023). Routing or Rerouting Europe? The Civilizational Mission of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, pp. 143-152, 10.1080/10758216.2022.2050927. Once again, the sustainability of these movements reinforces the inability to increase the rights and freedoms of certain part of the population; women are the main ones affected even if this can affect various communities considered as minorities.

The perception of gender theories as an ideological export of European Union values ​​has influenced academic gender studies and feminist activism. European funding shaped the subjects, methods, research modes and institutionalization of gender studies in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, following the fall of the Eastern bloc^[35]Kováts, E., (2021). “Anti-gender Politics in East-Central Europe: Right-wing Defiance to West-Eurocentrism.”, Gender – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, pp. 214 … Continue reading. Susan Zimmermann, professor of gender studies at Central European University, describes the institutionalization of gender studies in the region as “symbolic markers of conformist Westernization”^[36]Zimmermann, S., (2007), The Institutionalization of Women’s and Gender Studies in Higher Education in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union: Asymmetric Politics and the … Continue reading. This is not a commitment to acquiring more knowledge in the field of gender relations, but rather a dissemination of the values ​​of Western liberal democracy.

Many right-wing governments, as well as conservative and traditionalist parties in certain states, today use gender issues in establishing their political programs. By denouncing gender issues and supporting the idea that it is a direct import from the West, governments maintain the gap of ideas and opinions between the two regions of Europe. An example of this is the events in Hungary in October 2018: Legislative Decree 42294/2018^[37]Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, (2018), Scholars at Risk. https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=9067&file=EnglishTranslation banned the teaching of gender studies in Hungarian universities by adopting measures to withdraw funding and accreditation from courses academics in gender studies^[38]Krizsán, A., Roggeband, C., (2019). Gendering Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe: A Comparative Agenda, Central European University, CEU CPS Books, p. 145  … Continue reading. Feminist activism in Eastern Europe, after the fall of the Soviet bloc in 1991, was also heavily influenced by Western funding and organized in Western structures such as NGOs, discussion groups. Nowadays, conservative political forces criticize the democratic character of the European Union and Western feminist activism. The latter are, however, financed by anti-abortion and anti-gender movements in the United States^[39]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. Hungary and Poland have implemented policies aimed at undermining women’s rights organizations and diverting public funds to alternative women’s organizations close to the government^[40]Kováts, E., (2021). “Anti-gender Politics in East-Central Europe: Right-wing Defiance to West-Eurocentrism.” Gender – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, pp. 214 … Continue reading. In Hungary, women’s rights groups experienced an unprecedented lack of funding under the FIDESZ government^[41]Kováts, E., (2021). “Anti-gender Politics in East-Central Europe: Right-wing Defiance to West-Eurocentrism.” Gender – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, pp. 214 … Continue reading. Between 2013 and 2015, several organizations defending women’s rights and the LGBT community were the subject of aggressive raids^[42]Kováts, E., (2021). “Anti-gender Politics in East-Central Europe: Right-wing Defiance to West-Eurocentrism.” Gender – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, pp. 214 … Continue reading. Similarly, in October 2017, Polish women’s organizations called for anti-government marches to protest the government’s restrictive abortion law. As a result, police raided the offices of these women’s organizations in several Polish cities^[43]Kováts, E., (2021). “Anti-gender Politics in East-Central Europe: Right-wing Defiance to West-Eurocentrism.” Gender – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, pp. 214 … Continue reading. This violence is becoming commonplace, therefore bogging down the possible defence of rights for all.

The possible development of anti-gender policies in the future

Contemporary anti-gender policies find their origins in the break with communist policies, the post-socialist transition of the 1990s and the relationship with the European Union. Although more than thirty years have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union, the East-West cultural divide is still felt, particularly regarding women’s rights. The current war in Ukraine could mark a crucial turning point in the evolution of the construction of these policies. Russian propaganda declares that it wants to get rid of “coercive homosexuality” imported from European countries^[44]Norocel, O. C., David Paternotte, D., (2023) The Dis/Articulation of Anti-Gender Politics in Eastern Europe: Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, 70:2, 123-129. 10.1080/10758216.2023.2176075. At the same time, Ukrainian authorities are ready to consider reforms such as same-sex marriage to demonstrate their membership in the European Union. As Western attention now turns to Ukraine – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – the opportunity arises to challenge the East-West divide^[45]O’sullivan, M., Krulišová, K., (2023), ‘Women, Peace and Security in central Europe: in between the western agenda and Russian imperialism’, International Affairs, 99(2), pp.625–643. … Continue reading.

The European Union should support and finance associations and studies on gender that are not exclusively based on the Western feminist tradition. Supporting studies and organizations that take into account the cultural and historical differences of Eastern Europe will open a feminist movement finally adapted to post-socialist countries, so that feminism is no longer seen as a Western export or an easy target for populist policies.

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To cite this article: Ricci Elena. (2023). Anti-gender policies in post-socialist European countries. Gender in Geopolitics Institute. https://igg-geo.org/?p=18189&lang=en