Hello world!

What does theatre have to do with politics? And how can schools, podcasts, or even comics become spaces to push back against the anti-gender backlash?

This summer issue of the Push*Back*Lash newsletter provides answers to these questions by sharing new tools, ideas and research findings. Inside, you'll find a practical theatre toolkit for educators and civil society actors, a new podcast episode, and highlights from conferences and workshops. You can also take a look at the latest academic publications and reports, and find out how disability is being included (or overlooked) in intersectional debates and what needs to be done to become more inclusive.

Work Package 9 (WP9) finalized its long-awaited toolkit for universities and NGOs that guides them in how to develop and implement their own Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) interventions against the anti-gender backlash. It was created by Joschka Köck and his team from Theatre of the Oppressed Vienna (https://tdu-wien.at/) in cooperation with student groups, activists and researchers.

What you’ll find inside:

• Step-by-step guides to plan, facilitate, and evaluate TO workshops
• Ready-to-use exercises
• Practical advice on sustaining impact beyond the initial stage

Download the toolkit here.

Released together with the first toolkit, the Integrated report on “participatory pushback tools” explores how artistic, embodied methods, especially TO, can help counter anti-gender backlash. It is both inspiration and invitation to discover how creativity becomes resistance.

The key takeaway? Backlash isn’t just an intellectual debate. It’s emotional and must be met with strategies that engage the whole person. 

If you are more of a listener, check out the new podcast on participatory theatre. Linda Raule and Joschka Köck, two of Push*Back*Lash's theatre facilitators, share how performance can move beyond the stage to become a catalyst for change. Drawing on their experience across European contexts, they discuss how participatory theatre empowers communities, challenges gender-based violence, and opens up new pathways for feminist policy-making.

Gender Five Plus, in its role as Work Package 7 (WP7) leader, has completed the final integrated report on pushback strategies. It will be published on the 1st of August on our homepage. 

This comprehensive document synthesizes key findings from research conducted across the EU level in Member States, and the United Kingdom. It offers a comparative overview of how anti-feminist and anti-gender narratives have been addressed across different political and societal contexts.

The report not only provides an in-depth analysis of the diverse strategies employed by both governmental institutions and civil society actors to counter these narratives, but also highlights patterns of resistance and innovation in pro-equality advocacy. Drawing on case studies, expert interviews, and field reports, it examines successful and emerging approaches to mitigating backlash and reclaiming democratic space.

Importantly, the report concludes with a set of targeted, actionable recommendations tailored to policymakers, civil society organisations, EU institutions, and other relevant stakeholders. These recommendations aim to support a more coordinated, informed, and resilient response to the ongoing challenge posed by anti-gender movements across Europe.

In December 2024, Push*Back*Lash and Gender Five Plus hosted the “Anti-Gender Backlash & Democratic Pushback” conference.

The report is out now! From empowering grassroots activism to regulating online hate and promoting intersectional representation, it outlines clear recommendations and urgent actions we must take.

Want to watch the full recording? Then click here. 

In July, Zoe Lefkofridi (University of Salzburg), principal investigator of Push*Back*Lash, led a workshop on democracy and gender equality with Class 6E of the Akademisches Gymnasium in Salzburg. Among other activities, the class also discussed feminism by analysing Push*Back*Lash cartoons, and created their own comics in German and Spanish about gender equality and democracy.

In a strong example of how research can support real-world impact, Barbara Helfferich (Gender Five Plus), lead for WP7 of the Push*Back*Lash project, was invited by the Council of Europe to deliver a series of capacity-building trainings focused on resisting anti-feminist and anti-gender narratives.

In April 2025, Barbara travelled to Strasbourg to give two seminars aimed at equipping Georgian civil society organisations with the knowledge and tools to push back against anti-gender discourse. These sessions focused on strengthening narrative strategies and building cross-sector alliances—drawing directly from the findings of WP7 and the broader Push*Back*Lash project.

Following these successful trainings, she was invited to Georgia in June to conduct two additional workshops with regional civil society organisations, ensuring that our insights reached beyond capital-based actors to support grassroots resilience.

The workshops were highly interactive and tailored to local realities, highlighting practical tools and showcasing effective strategies from across Europe. Participants reported feeling better prepared to respond to backlash and to advocate for gender equality in increasingly challenging environments.

These trainings not only underscored the value of evidence-based communication and coalition-building, but also demonstrated the growing demand for transnational cooperation in defending gender equality and democratic values.

Policy Brief 4 by our Work Package 4 (WP4) team from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) addresses the urgent need for more inclusive and effective approaches to countering hate speech, particularly online. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing hate speech based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and highlights the limitations of current automated detection systems.

The brief also underlines the value of contextual analysis and human oversight, as well as the need for institutional support for those targeted by hate, such as politicians, through effective coping strategies.

In this episode, Vera Beloshitzkaya (University of Salzburg, PLUS) and Magda(lena) Szarota (Humanity in Action, HiA) reflect on the anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

They discuss what still needs to change in research, policy, and public perception and challenge researchers and civil society actors alike to ask: Are we making space, or just claiming it’s not there?

Podcast Feature: Liza Mügge on Amsterdames

We’re excited to share that WP4 researcher Liza Mügge (UvA) was recently featured on the Amsterdames podcast, a series hosted by Sarah Tekath that spotlights inspiring women in the Netherlands. In the episode, she discusses her work on political backlash, offering insights from our project and reflecting on the challenges faced by women in public life. 

Feminism, Backlash and the Far-Right

WP4 researcher Norah Schulten (UvA) hosted an episode of the Culture & Inequality podcast, diving into the complex intersections of gender and far-right politics. Joined by scholars Sarah Bracke and Charléne Calderaro, the episode explores how far-right movements co-opt feminist ideas to reinforce gender norms, racialize sexism, and sustain power hierarchies. 

Gaps in German Parliament's COVID-19 Debates

Our Work Package 1 (WP1) team from the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) finished their participation in Work Package 8 (WP8), with the data collection about Germany and a full case study about Germany. 

One of their latest findings is that the debates that took place in the German Parliament during the COVID-19-pandemic lacked focus on women and people from marginalized genders that are part of the LGBTQ community.

At the end of May, one of our project researchers, Vera Beloshitzkaya from PLUS, presented her and Zoe Lefkofridi's ongoing work on how families may serve as training grounds for democratic citizens at the Politics & Gender Conference at Rutgers University, NJ.

The conference tackled issues that resonate deeply with the Push*Back*Lash research, including the backlash against women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, gender, authoritarianism, and democratic backsliding, and theoretical, policy, and legal developments analyzed through the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, age, disability, and more.

Researchers from sister projects (Andrea Krizsan from CCINDLE and Valentina Nerino from UNTWIST) were also in attendance. 

In May, Monika Kovács (Eötvös Lóránd University, ELTE) presented the social psychological and educational considerations that were taken into account when developing the „Intersecting Inequalities” teaching materials for our Push*Back*Lash cartoon series at the Re-routing and Re-imagining Gender and Education Conference at The Manchester Metropolitan University. 

Some of our researchers from different universities got together at the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Joint Sessions of Workshops 2025 in Prague this spring. 

For Liza Mügge (UvA) and Vera Beloshitzkaya (PLUS) it was also a great opportunity to connect with researchers from other projects - in this case Maëlle Noir from the BRRIDGE project. Researchers from sister projects (UNTWIST, CCINDLE, FIERCE) were also there. 

Alexia Katsanidou and Nils Jungmann (2025) “Rethinking political space in Europe: the modernisation and globalisation dimensions.” Journal of European Public Policy, 1–24.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2025.2501091

Margarita Zervoulakou, Rebekka Kesberg and Liza Mügge (2025) “Threat Narratives in Anti-gender Movements’ Online Presence: A Comparative Analysis between CitizenGo and Europe for Family.” Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science 59 (2), Online: 57-90.
https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.42025.3

On the 25th of September, leading academic experts on gender equality and democracy, civil society organisations and policymakers will meet in Salzburg, Austria, to discuss and contextualise project findings and impact, review toolkits, and co-create evidence-based solutions and recommendations. The Forum will feature a series of panels and roundtable discussions with researchers, civil society organizations, and policymakers. 

Panel 1: Anti-Gender Backlash in Public Spaces (Online & Offline) & Pushback Strategies

Panel 2: Anti-Gender Backlash at the Discourse, Policy & Elite Levels

Panel 3: Gender Café – Interactive Session with evidence-based & artistic tools to counteract anti-gender backlash 

Toolkit Session: Presentation and Feedback

Closing Roundtable: Contextualizing findings and reflecting on the pathway forward with researchers, politicians and civil society. 

Our team from WP1 at Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) is going to host the conference "Resisting the Backlash: Defending Intersectional, Decolonial, and Postcolonial Feminisms", as part of the Push*Back*Lash project on the 1st and 2nd of October 2025. There will be participants and panelists from more than 10 countries coming together in Dresden.

Want to have a look at the call? Find it here. 

Have a lovely day!

Your Push*Back*Lash Team

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101061687.

UK consortium partners funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee [grant number 10038117].

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union,  European Research Executive Agency, or UK Research and Innovation. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.