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Anti-Gender Politics as Authoritarian Governance: The Case of Türkiye

Ringvorlesung 2026: Anti/Feminism & Nationalism

Veranstaltungsdaten

Abstract

 Anti gender mobilization is often interpreted as a conservative cultural backlash against feminism and LGBTQ rights. Yet in many contemporary authoritarian and hybrid regimes, anti-gender politics operate as a strategic instrument of governance. This lecture examines the Turkish case to show how gender and sexuality have become central sites of political rule under the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Since the early 2010s, government actors, religious institutions, pro government civil society organizations, and conservative media have collaborated to construct “gender ideology” as a moral and national threat. These discourses have accompanied concrete institutional changes, including the 2021 withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and increasing restrictions on feminist and LGBTQ activism. The lecture argues that anti-gender politics function not only as ideological projects but also as tools of authoritarian consolidation that mobilize moral panic, stabilize political coalitions, and redirect social grievances. Drawing on insights from feminist political economy and scholarship on authoritarian populism, the lecture situates Türkiye within broader global debates on gender backlash and authoritarian governance.

Bio

 Tutku Ayhan is a Postdoctoral Fellow in International Security at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). She holds a PhD in Security Studies from the University of Central Florida. Her research sits at the intersection of feminist international relations, feminist security studies, and migration governance, with a particular focus on gender, conflict, displacement, and anti-gender politics. Her work examines how gender shapes experiences of violence, displacement, and political mobilization in conflict and post conflict contexts. Tutku’s research has been published in journals such as International Feminist Journal of Politics, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Nationalities Papers, International Journal of Transitional Justice, and The Middle East Journal. Her current research examines anti-gender politics and authoritarian governance in Türkiye and the SWANA region, as well as feminist responses to these dynamics.

Introductory Texts

 Özkazanç, A. (2024). A crisis of masculine power: The emergence and trajectory of the anti-gender movement in Turkey. In Transnational anti-gender politics: Feminist solidarity in times of global attacks (pp.35-53). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

 Unal, D. (2024). The variety of anti-gender alliances and democratic backsliding in Turkey: fault lines around opposition to “gender ideology” and their political implications, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 26:1, 6-30, DOI: 10.1080/14616742.2023.2299701.