By: Didem Unal (she/her/hers) In recent years, illiberal regimes in contexts as diverse as Russia, Hungary, and Turkey have appropriated a docile civil society model to maintain their dominance. Such regimes transform civic space by repressing dissident organizations and replacing them with GONGOs, which can be defined as civil society organizations that act within the limits set by an authoritarian government. In such contexts, the reduction of space for autonomous civil society is simultaneously coupled with a crackdown on gender equality politics and the activism and political efficacy of f ..read more

By: Lídia Cabral (she/her/hers) This year the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) commemorates its 50th anniversary. Embrapa is well know for driving the Brazilian Green Revolution, centred on soybean and the power of science to conquer nature and push through agriculture modernization. This celebration should not be about nostalgic and partial recollections of the organization’s trajectory. Embrapa should instead accept and celebrate the growing diversity of its research production and embrace a more plural stance toward agricultural science. In this article, I suggest that ..read more

By: Anna Gwiazda (she/her/hers) and Liana Minkova (she/her/hers) Violence against women is a global problem with devastating social, health, and economic consequences. With one in three women having experienced physical and/or sexual violence, it is important to understand how public policies might tackle this human rights abuse. The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, aims to combat this serious problem. However, several Council of Europe member states have not ratified it. Considering the urg ..read more

By: Natalie Jester (she/her/hers) (Headline quote from Lockheed Martin) What comes to mind when you think of the arms trade? Do you picture bombs or bullets? Or perhaps money is where your thoughts lead you? One answer you probably would not expect to give is “women’s empowerment” or “feminism.” In my recent IFJP article, I argue that gendered representations are a central component of public communications by arms manufacturers. I examine social media content by three of the largest arms manufacturers (by revenue) to see how, if at all, women were represented. Whilst making a significant prop ..read more

By: Kate Coddington (she/her/hers) and Jill M. Williams (she/her/hers) In May 2022, the US government released a new advertisement campaign describing the dangers of hiring a “coyote” to migrate to the US. Targeting families in Central America and Mexico, the digital advertisements featured pictures of grieving people with text such as “El coyote nos quitó a nuestro hijo. No deje que destrya su familia. Dígale no al coyote.” [The coyote took our son from us. Do not let him destroy your family. Tell the coyote no.] Photo by Nenad Stojkovic, Flickr Creative Commons These advertisements represen ..read more

By: Megan A. Armstrong (she/her/hers) Does your zombie apocalypse plan involve evacuation, or sheltering in place? Would you seek out a community of survivors, or go it alone? How do you think you would fare in a world overrun by zombies? The zombie apocalypse would be a difficult time for most people, but it struck me that as a woman, it was the last place I would want to be. Whenever I watched a new zombie film or series, I continuously found myself wondering why the zombie apocalypse always seemed to mean an immediate return to “traditional”, binary gender roles. With some exceptions, it se ..read more

By: Pablo A. Rodríguez-Merino (he/him) and Chi Zhang (she/her) Five Muslim Uyghur women were sentenced to jail terms ranging from seven to 20 years by a court in Korla, Xinjiang, for engaging in ‘illegal’ religious activities, according to a copy of the 2019 verdict. How does the Chinese state rationalise and justify its treatment of women in Xinjiang? In our recent article, we explore the gendered hierarchy of power in China's counterterrorism discourse and its impact on Uyghur women. We problematize the Chinese state’s construction of ‘Xinjiang women’ in the realms of political violence and ..read more

By: Madeleine Belfrage (she/her) Global media attention has turned to abortion pills in the wake of the U.S.-Supreme Court Dobbs decision that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in the United States. Activists on both sides of the United States-Mexico border are organizing to ensure women and pregnant people can safely self-induce abortion using medication despite the laws. In Europe, activists have also sent shipments of abortion pills to their colleagues in Ukraine as part of essential humanitarian aid. Some stories sensationalize the movement of pills by describing an ‘undergr ..read more

By: Saba Joshi (she/her/hers) On 7 August 2022, as she was sworn in as vice president of Colombia, Francia Marquez Mina created history. Marquez’s career, “from maid to Colombia’s first Black vice-president”, is nothing short of extraordinary, and even more so, if one considers that she gained public prominence as anti-mining activist in a country notoriously dangerous for environmental and land defenders. Among her most notable campaigns involved leading 80 women on a 560 km-long, 10-day march from her home district in La Toma (Cauca region) to Colombia’s capital, Bogota, to protest illegal g ..read more

By: Valentine Berthet (she/her/hers) Many observers from EU institutions, academia, non-governmental and grassroot organizations are left wondering whether the EU will ever ratify the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women, known as the Istanbul Convention. While talks remain stalled in the European Council, within which a common accord is yet to be reached amongst heads of member states, the European Parliament (EP) has defended the Convention’s ratification since 2014 despite a growing opposition. This research article aims to uncover the discursive mechanisms of s ..read more