Paper/Proposal Title
Gender and Rights: Global Contestations
Location
M1555
Start Date
11-2-2023 1:45 PM
End Date
11-2-2023 3:15 PM
Keywords
Gender; anti-gender; gender equality; authoritarianism; populism
Abstract
The anti-gender movement, which develops discourse and actions in opposition to the concept of gender, gender equality and gender studies, is increasingly apparent and effective globally. Moral entrepreneurs, such as religious and community leaders and the media, deploy counter-mobilization and conservative rhetoric that aims to undo progress made in the legal, political, economic and social realms. This anti-gender movement is also transnational, evidenced in the growth of right-wing populism and authoritarianism in different parts of the world specifically linked to attacks on feminism, women’s human rights, and minorities. The recent U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization rescinding the right to abortion in the United States, along with similar developments in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, highlights the need for global solidarity and strengthened multilateralism that generates and promotes global norms. In the face of global challenges to human rights, there is need for solidarity, but one that moves towards a practice of decolonization. The global gender equality movement faces a moment of particular complexity, needing to boldly fight the powerful regressive set of forces globally and unentangle the impacts of colonialism and racism to improve its approach. While a genuine focus on the social practice of human rights requires centering intersectionality, anti-racism, and decolonization in contemporary human rights work, further consideration is needed to outline what this means for advocacy strategies on specific issues. In this spirit, this roundtable is an initial effort to consider whether we understand sufficiently the methods and tactics of anti-rights and anti-feminist movements and how to counteract them in practice and in scholarship. The intention is to provide a space to capture and distill practical knowledge and strategies of engagement with these issues.
Author/Speaker Biographical Statement(s)
Contributors: (Ongoing) Susan Weaver, Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Dayton, sweaver1@udayton.edu Satang Nabaneh, Director of Programs, Human Rights Center; Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton, snabaneh1@udayton.edu Lucia Berro Pizzarosa, O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law, Georgetown University Alejandra Cardenas, Senior Director of Legal Strategies, Innovation, and Research, Center for Reproductive Rights Melissa Upreti, (Nepal/USA), UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls Simanti Dasgupta, Professor; Director of International Studies Program, University of Dayton
Gender and Rights: Global Contestations
M1555
The anti-gender movement, which develops discourse and actions in opposition to the concept of gender, gender equality and gender studies, is increasingly apparent and effective globally. Moral entrepreneurs, such as religious and community leaders and the media, deploy counter-mobilization and conservative rhetoric that aims to undo progress made in the legal, political, economic and social realms. This anti-gender movement is also transnational, evidenced in the growth of right-wing populism and authoritarianism in different parts of the world specifically linked to attacks on feminism, women’s human rights, and minorities. The recent U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization rescinding the right to abortion in the United States, along with similar developments in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, highlights the need for global solidarity and strengthened multilateralism that generates and promotes global norms. In the face of global challenges to human rights, there is need for solidarity, but one that moves towards a practice of decolonization. The global gender equality movement faces a moment of particular complexity, needing to boldly fight the powerful regressive set of forces globally and unentangle the impacts of colonialism and racism to improve its approach. While a genuine focus on the social practice of human rights requires centering intersectionality, anti-racism, and decolonization in contemporary human rights work, further consideration is needed to outline what this means for advocacy strategies on specific issues. In this spirit, this roundtable is an initial effort to consider whether we understand sufficiently the methods and tactics of anti-rights and anti-feminist movements and how to counteract them in practice and in scholarship. The intention is to provide a space to capture and distill practical knowledge and strategies of engagement with these issues.
