Attacks on Gender (Studies): Seeking Strategies

This roundtable discussion is going to focus, on the one hand, on the controversies around “gender”, which are being experienced by many European and non-European countries alike, and named differently in different contexts (e.g. anti-genderismus, gender theory, gender ideology, etc.). On the other hand, it asks for strategies to deal with, and resist to, the attacks from right-wing, conservative, nationalist, and/or Christian social constituencies that are campaigning against “gender” as something allegedly ideological, irrelevant, dangerous, or unscientific. In this perspective, participants in the roundtable are asked to single out the agents and networks that are carrying out these campaigns, as well as to clarify the specific social issues and tropes that are being targeted by them. In particular, we are going to reflect on the consequences such mobilizations have on gender studies as a field of research that, though unevenly, has undergone a certain degree of institutionalization inside (and outside) Europe. How are the attacks on “gender”, particularly in the form of feminist and queer knowledge, affecting the researchers in the field, the reputation of departments and institutions, and the workings of collectives and associations? How can we as collectivities (most effectively) act to such stereotyping and denigrations?

Speakers