ABSTRACT

The rise of populism as a political phenomenon in recent years poses a new set of challenges to our democracies across the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) region. In their political agendas, populist parties symbolise a profound dilemma for democratic regimes, to some extent challenging the very system of liberal values and human rights which came to define Western Liberal democracies over the last decades. In doing so, populist parties tend to position ‘the people’ against ‘the elite’, portraying themselves as true representatives of an homogeneous people, abandoned by a corrupt and conspiring elite (political, economic, cultural). Additionally, some populist parties partly or entirely reject the long-standing foundations of democratic institutions, i.e. separation of powers, transparency, rule of law, and non-discrimination. Resting on the profusion of analyses available on the revamp of populism, this article will specifically try to assess the impact populist parties and their agendas have on gender equality and women‘s rights across the OSCE region. Are populist parties more inclined to adopt a critical stand towards gender equality and women's rights? What type of alternative political narrative, if any, do they promote in the gender relations within our societies? Looking at selected populist political parties across the OSCE region, the present analysis will compare their political agendas and narratives on gender equality and women‘s rights issues, with the aim of identifying consistent patterns, possibly highlighting concerns and recommendations to be taken into consideration in future efforts to promote more inclusive and equal democratic societies.

POPULISM AND GEND

Over the last decade, and to a greater extent during recent years, populism has become a prominent feature of political party systems across the OSCE region, with populist actors appearing to gain significant political relevance and representing large sectors of our societies. Although still lacking a shared definition and conceptual clarity, populism is oft en used to describe a rather negative political phenomenon, currently posing one of the greatest challenges and threats to liberal democracies and their underlining values of pluralism, rule of law and inclusion. Already in 2010, in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the European Union (EU) President Herman von Rompuy declared populism ‘the greatest danger for Europe’.