Wielding the power of knowledge
Anti-gender mobilizations and the strategic (mis)use of epistemic authority
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12255175 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nina Perger (0000-0003-4509-6029, University of Ljubljana, corresponding author), Roman Kuhar (0000-0003-4294-7529, University of Ljubljana) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Gender Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0958-9236 • E-ISSN: 1465-3869 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09589236.2026.2637522 |
| OpenAlex | W7133971067 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 33 |
This article examines how anti-gender mobilizations strategically (mis)use knowledge and epistemic authority to legitimize their claims. Focusing on the manual Children Are at Stake! A Manual for Mothers, Fathers, and Teachers to Protect Children from LGBTQIA+ Ideology , we situate our analysis within broader global patterns of anti-gender campaigns that target schools, universities, and academic freedom. While previous scholarship has described such practices as ‘troll science’ or ‘counterknowledge’, our study advances this work by identifying the specific mechanisms through which such knowledge is produced and mobilized. Using a mixed-methods approach, we coded 24 references cited in the manual and analysed the relationship between these sources and the claims they were used to support. The results show three distinct techniques of knowledge (mis)use: the Torsion Technique (twisting knowledge through interpretative extension or distortion), the Magician’s Technique (fabricating relevance through phantomized or invented connections), and the Echo Technique (accurately summarizing ideologically aligned but questionable sources). Together, these strategies demonstrate how anti-gender actors exploit the symbolic authority of science, often stripped of context and sensationalized, to produce a parallel politics of knowledge. We argue that these practices not only delegitimize critical scholarship but also generate alternative epistemologies that reinforce retrotopian visions of social order
Context (archaeology · Exploit · Ideology · Politics · Power (physics · Relevance (law · Scholarship · Vision · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies in Language
The Modern World-System IV
The Anti-Gender Movement in Europe and the Educational Process in Public Schools
Varieties of Opposition to Gender Equality in Europe
Right-wing populism in New Turkey
Open the Social Sciences
The Craft of Sociology
Unpacking “Gender Ideology” and the Global Right’s Antigender Countermovement
Endangered Scholarship, Academic Freedom, and the Life of Critique
Non au gender
Populist knowledge
Disputing “Gender” in Academia
Post-Truth Populism
In science we (dis)trust
What is in a name? Alternative gender knowledge and the retrogressive worlding of radical right digital media
Populists’ struggle for epistemic hegemony and anti-gender attacks on higher education in authoritarian contexts
De-democratization and the Politics of Knowledge
Counteracting Challenges to Gender Equality in the Era of Anti-Gender Campaigns
Polarization of public trust in scientists between 1978 and 2018
Not in the mood for gender and feminism. Exploring affect and expertise through Spanish anti-gender movements
Playing with science
Disentangling and Locating the “Global Right
The Anti-Woke Academy
Producing expert capital
Gender Studies and Women's Equality as Orwellian "Thoughtcrimes"? The Threat of Self-Censorship and Polish Academic Autobiographical Resistance
Making Gender and Sexuality Studies Illegal
Resisting the Epistemic Straight Gaze in the Anti-gender Era
Situated Knowledges
Scattered Remarks
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |