Rethinking gender mainstreaming in the context of anti-gender opposition in the EU: intersectional coalition politics and participatory democracy as the way forward

Lucrecia Rubio Grundell and Bruna Cristina Jaquetto Pereira

Chapter 36 in Research Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming, 2026, pp 484-495 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter analyzes the discursive opposition to gender mainstreaming by far-right populist, religious and anti-gender actors in the European Parliament, and the institutional and political features of the European Union (EU) that constrain an effective response to such opposition. We show that this opposition is intrinsically linked to these actors’ broader dedemocratizing anti-gender agenda, which intricately combines sexism, homo/transphobia, xenophobia, and racism. Hence, we argue that any successful response requires an intersectional approach that acknowledges the broad anti-equality nature of this opposition. In this regard, we contend that the EU's current technocratic-bureaucratic gender mainstreaming model, along with a fragmented and additive approach to intersectionality that limits the meaningful participation of civil society, hinders such an effective response. Instead, gender mainstreaming must give way to equality mainstreaming, and be democratized, shifting from a top-down, expert-driven model to a participatory model that actively involves diverse pro-equality civil society organizations, fostering broad coalitions to resist these illiberal forces.

Keywords: Gender Mainstreaming; Opposition to Gender Equality; Far-Right; European Union; Intersectionality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035353415
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