COST Action Democratisation at Stake: Comparing Anti-Gender Politics. Autumn 2026 Lecture Series – Lecture 1

Anti-gender movements have been significantly rising and have severely impacted the rights of women and transgender or LGBTQ communities across Asia. Asian countries have failed to recognise equal gender rights and inclusive policies and practices for women and transgender communities because of their social, economic and contemporary political scenario. However, increasing authoritarian politics and democratic backsliding multiplied the problem of equal gender rights, notwithstanding the politics of inclusion continuing to challenge the authoritarian political ecosystem. Considering these scenarios, this article critically explores the anti-gender mobilisation, authoritarian regimes and politics of women’s and LGBTQ rights in shaping the narratives of anti-gender movements in Asian countries. The gradual decline of democratic spaces and sites to counter the anti-gender mobilisation is further examined as many democracies have turned into either authoritarian or military rule. We have taken the case of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, as major Asian nations, to document the anti-gender mobilisation, right-wing politics and military-controlled rules in recent years. Based on a framework of multidimensional relationships between anti-gender mobilisation, authoritarian politics and equal rights and opportunities, this paper seeks to problematise the issue to find the significance of democratisation as a counter strategy for anti-gender forces.

It shows that Asian nations are socially anti-gender, politically uninspiring for women and economically insufficient for accommodating the needs and aspirations of women and the LGBTQ. Mobilisation of women and the LGBTQ through democratic spaces and sites has been severely constrained due to right-wing politics and democratic backsliding. These have significantly mobilised the anti-gender forces to monopolise power and gain political support through right-wing and military authoritarian projection. This article suggests rigorous democratic reforms in Asian countries to enhance spaces and sites for women and LGBTQ rights as a counter strategy to anti-gender movements in authoritarian and right-wing politics.

Dr. Bishnu Prasad Mohapatra is assistant professor at School of Liberal Arts in Dr. Viswanath Karad MIT-World Peace University(MIT-WPU), Pune, India. His area of teaching and research is political science with a special focus on Gender Rights, Democracy and Development, Local Governments, Indigenous rights and social inclusion. Dr. Bishnu Prasad Mohapatra has about 20 years of experience in Research, Teaching and Evaluation. Specialised in governance, public policy, decentralisation, local democracy and economic development, he has obtained M.Phil in Political Science from Berhampur University, Odisha, India and completed his PhD from Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Hyderabad,India in Political Science in 2018. Dr. Bishnu was a recipient of Institutional Doctoral Fellowship from Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi in 2013. Dr. Mohapatra has published 30 research articles in various reputed journals apart from 2 Books and 9 Chapters in Edited Books. He has also published 3 Research Monographs and associated with many academic institutions, NGOs and policy think-tanks as a Researcher and Teacher.

The presention of Dr. Bishnu Prasad Mohapatra's lecture can be found here, the recording is available on YouTube.