Gender-Hostile State: A Comparative Analysis of Slovakia and Czechia

• In Event: Anti-Feminism

Abstract

Since 2011, a right-wing movement in opposition to gender and sexual equality, so-called "gender ideology," has been growing across Europe. This movement has been termed the "anti-gender movement" due to its rejection of the notion that gender is a social construction and its opposition to the very term "gender." Much of the extant literature on this movement has focused on Poland and Hungary, where governments have directly opposed gender and sexual equality policies. Anti-genderism in Slovakia and Czechia has received far less attention. Yet, anti-gender actors in Czechia and Slovakia have stalled ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention). In Slovakia, anti-gender actors have become deeply interconnected with mainstream politics. Influential actors, such as the Conference of Slovak Bishops and the organization Alliance for the Family, have brought together anti-vaccination groups, fascist groups, and the leaders of far-right political parties to make and influence policy at the national level. As part of this alliance, in Slovakia, anti-gender actors have become members of political committees, influencing policy regarding gender equality at the national level, leading to gendered political crises. According to Johnson and Brunell (2006), gendered political crises include periods when oppositional structures to feminist goals that typically remain covert become clearly articulated as a threat to gender equality, resulting in increased mobilization. This occurred in Slovakia with the passing of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman and proposed legislation to limit access to reproductive healthcare, which saw massive protests in opposition to these measures. Thus, in Slovakia, the anti-gender movement has transitioned from civil society activism against feminist goals to what Roggeband and Krizsán (2020) refer to as a "hostile state." Many countries experience conservative countermovements against gender equality and maintain conservative civil society organizations; however, a hostile state is one in which the state actively discredits gender equality as a goal, and actors from right-wing civil society organizations replace gender equality activists in state agencies. Despite their similar histories, in Czechia, while the anti-gender movement has been influential in informing public discourse surrounding gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights and influenced policy such as stalling the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, nevertheless, there remains influential actors opposed to the anti-gender movement in government and gender equality activists maintain their positions on government committee.

Using the concept of discursive opportunity structure, in this study, I describe the conditions that led to a gender-hostile state in Slovakia and not Czechia. I ask, how has the anti-gender movement transitioned Slovakia into a gender-hostile state? And why has this not been the case in Czechia? This study focuses on the role of far-right parties in the countries, gendered political crises, and the feminist movement as a countermovement to the anti-gender movement. I conduct a textual analysis of movement documents, reports, newspaper articles, organizational publications, interviews with feminist activists, and previous secondary sources on anti-genderism in these two countries to create rich case studies of the relationship between these various actors within these two cases. Given that anti-gender actors are more influential when in control of the state and its resources and are more influential in passing policies detrimental to human rights, such as limiting reproductive freedoms, stymieing freedom of speech, and redirecting resources away from gender and sexual equality measures, it is imperative to understand the process through which such a social movement becomes institutionalized in government. Thus, findings from this study are critical to understanding the conditions under which gender-hostile states develop—a crucial insight in the current period of growing illiberalism globally.

Author

• Alexandria Wilson-McDonald, Otterbein University