Anti-gender politics and European democracies' legacies of exclusion and violence

Understanding the problems that current anti-gender actors pose for democracy in Europe demands investigating the broader legacies that underpin liberal democracies and shape political, economic and social inequalities and exclusions. Capitalist, colonial, and fascist legacies, in different ways, are built into current democratic systems and thus, prepare the ground for political projects of anti-gender actors. Such legacies deny the equal status of women, non-cis identities, non-heterosexual people, Black people, people of colour, non-Christians, migrants and displaced people, as do the political projects of anti-gender actors. Anti-gender actors can thus tap into such inequalities of liberal democracy to spread their exclusionary projects. Recognizing anti-gender politics as rooted in the fundamental flaws of liberal democracy provides a broader framework for forging new connections between feminist theory and democratic thought.