Introduction: feminist protests and politics in a world in crisis

Abstract

Welcome to Gender & Development’s special double issue on Feminist Protests and Politics in a World in Crisis. This double issue was produced during a global pandemic that has triggered a deep economic crisis and an unprecedented public health emergency worldwide. When we were approached to co-edit this issue, we thought the focus on feminist protest and politics could not be more timely. The multiple and interconnected crises we are living through have adversely impacted women’s, trans and non-binary people’s rights, and gender equality gains made in policy, discourse and practice. We were keen to explore the rapidly evolving terrain of gender justice and feminist organising, and identify where the new energies within feminism were located, and what may be the ways forward for building a feminist future. Our lives are overshadowed by a man-made climate crisis, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting millions and decimating livelihoods and economies. Violent conflicts have become more prolonged, and reflect an unequal global economic and political order that sustains proxy wars with sophisticated technology that allows warfare to be fought remotely, with limited casualties to aggressors. All the while, countries in the global North which benefit from these military interventions and conflicts for natural resource extraction are strengthening anti-immigration laws and heightening border control measures to keep refugees and migrants out. These laws are accompanied by extremist discourses that mobilise Islamophobia and different forms of religious fundamentalisms that rely on conservative interpretations of gender, race and class to define citizenship and belonging. The issues that animate contemporary feminist and gender justice struggles are diverse. In the last decade, new challenges to feminist organising have emerged. These include the rise of conservative populist forces that have co-opted feminist agendas and brought together a diverse set of actors to dismantle gender equality gains. This rise is accompanied by democratic backsliding, and growth in authoritarianism, racism and xenophobia and austerity in many countries. These trends have led governments to increasingly limit freedom of speech and expression, association, and freedom of peaceful assembly. In limiting civil liberties, we observe political regimes re-writing the contours of political organising and citizen engagement, thus reshaping citizenship. Civic space, which is linked to written and unwritten rules that shape the ability of citizens to influence the socio-political and economic context in which they operate, is being