In recent years, attacks on the rise of ‘gender ideology’, on gender studies as an academic field, and on feminist, queer and trans* individuals, have grown in scope and intensity. In this collaborative event between the London School of Economics (LSE) Department of Gender Studies and Queer@King’s, the editors of Transnational Anti-Gender Politics: Feminist Solidarity in Times of Global Attacks (Palgrave, 2024) consider such attacks as a global force in need of urgent analytical and political attention. Drawing on contributions from varied range of geographical locations, the book explores how anti-gender mobilisations work as a transnational formation shaped by the legacies of colonialism, racial capitalism, and resurgent nationalisms, and how these can be resisted.

The contributors trouble the ‘origin stories’ we tell about anti-gender politics, and help to better locate the various sources, actors, and networks behind these attacks, contesting the notion that anti-gender politics derive solely from right-wing nationalist or conservative religious actors. The book thus invites us to sharpen and rethink the conceptual vocabularies and strategies we use to understand and resist anti-gender attacks, opening space for envisioning new political imaginaries and transnational feminist solidarities.

Dr Holvikivi (LSE) and Dr Holzberg (King's) will provide introductory comments on the book, and panellists will offer their reflections on the topic.