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Eszter Kovats: Gender-madnesses in Germany and Hungary

The book of our Research Affiliate Eszter Kovats examines why and how the radical right in Germany and Hungary use gender in their politics, and how this relates to the political claims of so-called progressive actors in Western Europe and North America that invoke the concept of gender.

It argues that in Hungary the term “gender madness” entered the public consciousness through the speech of the Laszlo Kover, Speaker of Parliament, in 2015. In Germany, it was already an established phrase, through the campaigns of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party and the new right-wing magazine Junge Freiheit, as well as the writings of publicist-activist Birgit Kelle. “Why is this issue on the agenda? And is there any basis for this concern?”, the author asks and argues.

This volume seeks to answer these questions. It asks why and how the radical right in Germany and Hungary - AfD and Fidesz-KDNP and their intellectual milieu - use gender in their politics, but also how the right's use of 'gender' in the narrative of the crisis is related to the political demands of so-called progressive actors in Western Europe and North America that refer to the concept of gender: whether it is equality between men and women, between same-sex and different-sex couples, or even trans and queer demands that have been increasingly taking shape at the policy level since the 2010s. The volume seeks to explore “gender madness” in its various meanings - as accusation, as enemy-forming discourse and as existing practice.

Learn more about the book (in Hungarian) here.

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