ECPS Academy – Summer School 2022: “Populism and Gender: Gender Identity in Populist Discourse” by Dr Haley McEwen

This session examines the emergence of ‘anti-gender’, or ‘pro-family’ ideology and transnational countermovement building against sexuality and gender related rights. It traces the historical emergence of the so-called ‘pro-family’ movement, and show how key concepts and ideologies informing this movement are informed by white supremacist and heteropatriarchal geo-political interests. The lecture focuses specifically on ‘anti-gender’/‘pro-family’ activities in African contexts, but will also highlight some of the movements activities at global scales. The lecture considers the following questions in its interrogation of the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and geo-politics within ‘pro-family’ discourse and ideology: What geo-political interests are at stake within anti-gender/pro-family discourses of ‘gender’ and ‘family’? What does anti-gender/pro-family discourse and ideology reveal about the intersections of white supremacy and heteropatriarchy? How does the ‘pro-family’/‘anti-gender’ movement relate to other right wing populist movements?