Background to the third Feminist Democracy Lab
At the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, a research centre annexed to the Spanish Senate building in Madrid, around 25 politicians, researchers and activists gathered for CCINDLE’s third Feminist Democracy Lab. The workshop was the latest in a series that aims to break down siloed thinking, and co-create practical methods to counter anti-democratic and anti-gender movements and promote feminist democracy. In Madrid, the focus was on the challenges and solutions to international anti-gender mobilisations. Discussion covered vast political, geographic and cultural ground, drawing on interdisciplinary and international expertise to create novel insights.
Led by CCINDLE partners from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the Feminist Democracy Lab employed the World Café method to facilitate large group collaborative dialogue. Participants were posed an iterative series of questions to explore in assigned, small groups with diverse national and professional backgrounds. Deliberations were structured into a careful progression, addressing the varied risks to gender equality and the potential responses before inviting wider thinking on the pathways to feminist futures.
The challenges for feminist actors
The challenges highlighted could be grouped into a few broad areas. The first of these was democratic backsliding and the rule of law, as existing oppression was deepened by the narrowing of civil society and the erosion of democratic institutions and citizen rights. The national differences were stark in places, with the space for activism varying between Hungary and Poland, for example, and their Western European neighbours such as the Netherlands or UK. Nonetheless parallels in the agendas and positioning of anti-gender, anti-democratic forces were striking. The weaponisation of parliamentary immunity was prevalent across countries, for example, and wielded by anti-gender forces to drive debates in their favour and stymie meaningful dialogue. The funding and defunding of different agents, obstructions of procedure, and criminalisation or lawfare against activists were further examples. As the warping of democratic functions proceeds, participants stated that the threats to gender and democracy activists grew steadily more intractable.
Attendees also noted the related backsliding of gender equality policy, and the constraining of progress for feminist actors. The erosion of equality rights resulted in a narrowing scope for the advancement of policies regarding LGBT+, feminist and other rights, with the disruption of democratic processes and debates and the marginalisation of progressive voices manifesting in similar ways. Female politicians noted the tendency for their role to be hamstrung by gender stereotyping, for example, or a gendered dismissal of their capabilities and agendas. At the extreme level, threats, intimidation and violence were deployed to create a hostile environment in parliamentary spaces and the wider world. Personal threats and insults (such as ‘feminazi’) spanned professional, informal and digital spaces (via doxing and coordinated hate speech), with physical violence legitimised and even perpetrated by the state.
Impassioned discussion centred on the challenges to knowledge and perception perpetrated by anti-gender actors. Their messaging and politics had become increasingly mainstream, as the far right positioned themselves as the radical, democratic alternatives to the stifling hegemony of feminists and their allies. In this way, popular understandings are muddied and manipulated to the detriment of democratic and progressive values. Notions like freedom and common sense are appropriated in a way that silences opposition and appeals to the public through strong emotions, such as fury at feminism or love of one’s perceived country. Appeals to natural order or moral or religious arguments also drew comment, with authoritarian discourses sublimated into contemporary debates in order to reverse axes of victimisation and delegitimise opponents and their worldviews. As has been widely reported, the production and dissemination of misinformation has escalated in recent years. These factors lead to a dwindling space for feminists and democrats, with issues such as LGBT+ rights and education, for example, weaponised in Hungary. Against such odds, alliance building is both another challenge and a vital response.
Responses
Discussion of the potential responses to anti-gender movements was wide-ranging, with the spectrum of countries represented necessitating different strategies. In Hungary ambitions related to the defence of democracy itself; with symbolic parliamentary gestures (such as wearing particular clothing) accruing their own power. Within the European Parliament, conversely, the established cordon sanitaire strategy of isolating the extreme right is evolving to acknowledge the democratic legitimacy of their presence as well as the dangers. Passing progressive legislation is one obvious option for lawmakers, while parliamentary protocols such as the proscription of hate speech offered another path to counter anti-gender actors in legislative chambers and preventing their untrammelled exploitation of these platforms. The question of when to disengage and when to dialogue attracted some debate, with the need for self-protection mingled with the need to push back or expose the lack of productive political discourse from groups such as Spain’s Vox. Societies benefit from feminist legislators maintaining their messages in the public sphere and corridors of power, even if there is no obvious benefit in the short term. The tactical use of inquiries or litigation and the publicisation of evidence and attacks are ways to keep gender equality on the agenda.
A recurrent theme from participants was the need to build coalitions that transcend institutions, specialisms and borders. These ranged from parliamentary groupings or connections between political and non-governmental actors, to international movements encompassing gender, democracy, and anti-racist players; strengthening resolve and amplifying voices. Agility and energy were required when utilising parliamentary or procedural tools but, at a human level, many noted the personal toll and the importance of supporting fellow travellers. This required emotional as well as formal support, from funding to the provision of counselling, and being the troublemaker, stalwart or lone voice could be immensely wearing. Perhaps mainstreaming gender issues as a collective problem, not least by bringing men on board, and educating colleagues, the media and the public will in time lighten this load.
Building feminist futures
Fundamentally, attendees at the Feminist Democracy Lab aspire to transform societies; building inclusive institutions and democracies that work for everyone. Creating accessible feminist movements that are representative, intersectional and welcoming is key to enriching knowledge production, and constructively challenging structural barriers from financial disparities to burnout. Complex thinking and radical care should be embraced, even if visions of feminist futures can be hazy or daunting. The research produced by CCINDLE aims to reflect these ambitions, and we are grateful to attendees at the third Feminist Democracy Lab for sharing their insights and hopes.
Author: Alex Murphy, Trilateral Research, with thanks to Paloma Caravantes, Silvia Díaz Fernández and Emanuela Lombardo, Universidad Complutense Madrid. 19th December 2024