engleski

Anti-gender movement in Europe – How Croatia fits in?

During the recent decade a new movement emerged in Europe, which claims to oppose gender and mobilizes against some of it’s, they say, most pernicious effects. These campaigns, which all bear a striking resemblance, have emerged in different parts of the continent. They share discourses, strategies and modes of action across borders, observe what each other is doing and are increasingly connected transnationally. Scholars have described similar mobilizations against gender equality in other parts of the world as well (Kuhar, Paternotte, 2017). Following Jose Casanova, scholars also examined the de-privatization of religion and the “reactive politicization” of gender and sexual politics by religious movements and point to the fact that this process is accompanied with NGOization of religious actors and by secularization of their discourse. This process goes along with the process that seeks to reaffirm religion in public space, and often intersects with issues related to nationalism and defence of national sovereignty. Croatian homogenization in the national and religious sense from the beginning of the nineties was accompanied by repatriarhalization that indicates the relationship of domination in which definition of the majority and dominant group implies the ability to „exclude, to leave out, to render 'outside'“ (Hall, 1986, 5-6). Croatian recent mobilizations against “gender ideology” shares a number of similarities with some other European countries, and most of the mobilizing and contesting strategies and associated tools that have been employed elsewhere. The Croatian movement one can regard as particularly successful for different reasons. First, it has strongly voiced the opposition to comprehensive school-based sex education and legally blocked same-sex marriage. Also, it has legitimized a new discourse about faith-based morality and traditional values and, by putting pressure on their liberal adversaries and their ideas by claiming to represent a silent majority, it has rattled the common public perspective on gender and sexuality matters (Hodžić, Štulhofer eds, 2017). In this paper, authors analyse the latest anti- gender mobilisation in Croatia led by different NGOs concerning the ratification of Istanbul Convention in Croatian Parliament. The analysis will include web pages of the NGOs, materials they disseminate (videos, leaflets, billboards), their public activities (Facebook campaign, rallies, lobbying, cooperation with Catholic Church and other religious communities) as well as media coverage of the events.

gender, anti-gender movement, religion, Istanbul Convention, Croatia

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