Gender and Democratic Backsliding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

An almost inherent feature of the contemporary global wave of democratic backsliding is a backlash against women’s rights and gender equality. This association has generated a growing literature examining gender and democratic backsliding. It has largely focused on three areas: 1) The impact of democratic backsliding on gender equality. Specifically, how political actors responsible for backsliding target women’s rights and equality, 2) The role of women and gender in the ascendance of democratic backsliders – including the role of masculinity, and women’s active participation in and support for democratic backsliders, 3) Feminist resistance to democratic backsliding. Our panel proposes to examine these three aspects of the relationship between gender and democratic backsliding in MENA countries that are on different points of the backsliding continuum. While a literature studying the dynamics of backsliding in MENA countries is growing, little attention has been given to gender in the study of these processes. So far, only Turkey has received some treatment in the scholarship on gender and democratic backsliding. The proposed panel will convene experts on gender and politics in the MENA to comparatively examine the three features of gender and democratic backsliding: the impact of backsliding on women’s rights and gender equality; the role of women and gender in democratic backsliding, and feminist resistance to democratic backsliding.

Sub Unit

• Division 57: Middle East and North African Politics

Individual Presentations

• Anti-genderism as an Authoritarian Instrument: The Case of Turkey - Gamze Cavdar, Colorado State university

• Mainstreaming Democratic Backsliding: The Role of Gender Stereotypes - Sivan Hirsch-Hoefler, Reichman University (IDC Herzliya); Julia Elad-Strenger, Ben-Gurion University; Lihi Ben Shitrit, New York University

• Public Opinion and the Backlash against Women’s Rights - Yuree Noh, University of Utah; Karl C. Kaltenthaler, University of Akron

• Mothers of Afghanistan: Everyday Forms of Resistance to the Taliban - Zinab Attai, Cornell University

• Beyond Activism and Patronage: Gender Reforms in Saudi Arabia - Nermin Allam, Rutgers University

Chair

• Marwa Shalaby University of Wisconsin-Madison

Discussant

• Lihi Ben Shitrit New York University