Contested Alliances: A Contrapuntal Reading of European (Global) Gender Agendas

In and beyond Europe, pro-gender and anti-gender causes are gaining momentum. This article asks the following: How do (anti-)gender agendas emerge within the European Union (EU), and how are they projected beyond the Union's borders? These questions are addressed via a contrapuntal approach, which, we argue, can help to foster multi-directional learning in (gender) policy debates. Analytically, the method entails listening to plural voices in – and across – macro, meso and micro levels of analysis. Normatively, the method supports engagement of lesser heard voices. Applying the approach at the EU scale and vis-à-vis two case studies (Hungary and the Netherlands), we identify several, counter-intuitive patterns with implications for gender-based mobilisation: namely, that emphasis on inclusion in EU gender equality promotion, paradoxically, can lead to exclusion of a wider range of gender perspectives and that anti-gender mobilisation entails forms of co-option as well as exclusion.