The West Is Trying Too Hard

Gender and the Right-Wing Critique of Globalization

Bibliographic Data

ID2371184
AuthorsA Graff (0000-0003-0468-0376, University of Warsaw), Elżbieta Korolczuk (0000-0002-8263-5530, University of Warsaw, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume51
Issue4-5
Pages743-760
Publication date2025-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/08969205241260001
OpenAlexW4399829004
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited46

This paper examines how the term 'gender' has been re-signified by the right-wing actors in contemporary struggles around globalization. First, we offer a chronology of debates concerning global diffusion of gender norms, tracing the consolidation of various groups into the anti-gender movement. The next section discusses how gender and globalization intersect in discursive strategies of anti-gender actors. We show that they target international institutions and norms portraying them as a western cosmopolitan force, claiming to speak on behalf of local populations and obfuscating their transnational embeddedness. The aim is to moralize and blur the boundaries between the local and the global-a strategy we call chameleon tactics . The final part examines how chameleon tactics unfolded in the specific context of the 2019 ICPD25 Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, and how an anti-globalist frame was used to blur the global identity of anti-gender organizations present there

Globalization · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Right wing · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Policy and Reform Studies

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access