Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Backlash Unfiltered: Pushing Forward Equality in Times of Change
Episode 4. The Evolution of Anti-Gender Movements: Colonial Echoes, Professionalized Advocacy and Co-Opting Human Rights Discourses
In this episode, Karima Cherif, UNRISD Head of Communications and Outreach, speaks with Dr. Lata Narayanaswamy, Associate Professor in the Politics of Global Development at the University of Leeds. They unpack the evolution of anti-gender movements and how they co-opt the language of human rights and development to legitimize regressive, exclusionary agendas in global policy spaces.
Dr. Narayanaswamy illustrates how anti-gender actors position themselves as defenders of religious freedom and the “global South,” while simultaneously undermining gender and LGBTQIA+ rights. She discusses the sophisticated discursive strategies these movements employ—blending academic authority, institutional participation, and populist storytelling to gain influence. By tracing the colonial continuities underpinning contemporary anti-gender ideologies, this episode calls for a decolonial, justice-driven reimagining of rights and development that challenges inequality at its roots and reclaims the narrative space.
Backlash Unfiltered: Pushing Forward for Equality in Times of Change is a podcast series by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), launched as part of our ongoing commitment to gender justice and inclusive development. Through in-depth conversations with leading scholars, activists, and policymakers, this series explores the rise of anti-gender movements, their impact on social development, and the historical and geopolitical forces that sustain them. It sheds light on how these movements are influencing institutions, reshaping policies, and altering public discourse—with significant global repercussions. Listen to the other episodes: unrisd.org/backlash-unfiltered
Backlash Unfiltered: Pushing Forward Equality in Times of Change
Episode 4. The Evolution of Anti-Gender Movements: Colonial Echoes, Professionalized Advocacy and Co-Opting Human Rights Discourses
In this episode, Karima Cherif, UNRISD Head of Communications and Outreach, speaks with Dr. Lata Narayanaswamy, Associate Professor in the Politics of Global Development at the University of Leeds. They unpack the evolution of anti-gender movements and how they co-opt the language of human rights and development to legitimize regressive, exclusionary agendas in global policy spaces.
Dr. Narayanaswamy illustrates how anti-gender actors position themselves as defenders of religious freedom and the “global South,” while simultaneously undermining gender and LGBTQIA+ rights. She discusses the sophisticated discursive strategies these movements employ—blending academic authority, institutional participation, and populist storytelling to gain influence. By tracing the colonial continuities underpinning contemporary anti-gender ideologies, this episode calls for a decolonial, justice-driven reimagining of rights and development that challenges inequality at its roots and reclaims the narrative space.
Backlash Unfiltered: Pushing Forward for Equality in Times of Change is a podcast series by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), launched as part of our ongoing commitment to gender justice and inclusive development. Through in-depth conversations with leading scholars, activists, and policymakers, this series explores the rise of anti-gender movements, their impact on social development, and the historical and geopolitical forces that sustain them. It sheds light on how these movements are influencing institutions, reshaping policies, and altering public discourse—with significant global repercussions. Listen to the other episodes: unrisd.org/backlash-unfiltered
