From Catholic reactionaries in Spain to Kremlin ideologues obsessed with birth rates, the ardent defenders of traditional gender roles today call themselves “anti-gender” — using the English word “gender” to mean a mix of feminist and queer causes. But if protesters demanding “gender out of schools!” send a confusing message, what is “anti-gender” really about?

Beyond its own damnation of “gender ideology,” we can see “anti-gender” as a global illiberal civil society. Connecting right-wing populist parties, ultraconservative church leaders, transnational organizations such as Ordo Iuris, and neoliberal and conservative politicians and lobbyists, the representatives of anti-gender discourse are united by ideology and shared political objectives. In recent times, they have resisted the Istanbul Convention on violence against women, opposed antidiscrimination legislation and sex education, and blocked legislative efforts to equalize the rights of LGBTQ people.

One essential book for understanding this phenomenon is Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist Moment, by Polish academics Elżbieta Korolczuk and Agnieszka Graff. The authors reveal the strategies of the global anti-gender movement and its political connections, explain why it has succeeded in its fight to restrict reproductive rights around the world, and propose concrete strategies to counter these reactionaries.