Book Anti-Gender Mobilisations in the Post-Yugoslav Space
On 9 April 2026, I participated in a public webinar organised by the Gender and Politics Research Network in South-East Europe (GenPolSEE) around the publication of the edited volume Anti-Gender Mobilizations in the Post-Yugoslav Space: Hidden Connections (Palgrave, 2026).
The open-access volume provides a comparative analysis of anti-gender mobilisation across seven post-Yugoslav countries. It examines the historical development of these movements, their cultural specificities and their different religious framings. Despite the region’s political divisions and distinct national contexts, the book shows how ultraconservative actors converge around their opposition to “gender” presenting it as a common symbolic threat.
The volume emerged from collaborative work within GenPolSEE, a feminist academic network established in 2022 to advance research on gender and politics in Southeast Europe. The network facilitates the cooperation among gender scholars and activists from this region and I am very glad to be a member of it.
During the webinar, contributing authors came together to present the book’s central findings and reflect on recent developments in anti-gender mobilisation across the region. We also discussed how feminist organisations and other progressive actors can respond to these contemporary challenges.
The webinar was an important opportunity to bring collaborative academic research into a broader public conversation. It created a space for regional exchange, connected scholarly analysis with contemporary political developments and encouraged reflection on possible feminist responses.
By making the book freely available through open access, we hope its findings will reach audiences beyond academia and offer valuable insights to researchers, activists, policymakers and everyone working to understand and respond to anti-gender mobilisation.
Open Access Link to the book: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-92413-2