Democratizing without gender: democratization and de-democratization in post-communist Bulgaria (1989-2022)
The objective of this project is to contribute to conceptualizing gender aspects of democracy that mainstream notions of democracy and analyses of democratization and de-democratization fail to capture. The inspiration for the project stems both from research on the role of gender aspects in recent de-democratization processes and from the need for a historical understanding of the role of gender in post-communist democratization and de-democratization processes. The project aims to scrutinize and understand processes of exclusive democratization (after 1989) and how patterns of exclusive democratization impact the resilience of democracies in the face of recent waves of de-democratization and backlash against progress in gender equality. How the trajectory and inclusiveness of post-communist democratization after 1989 shape patterns of attacks on gender and the exclusion of women and sexual minorities in the current contexts of de-democratization, and how they facilitate or hinder inclusive forms of resistance and resilience to de-democratization.
Focusing on four post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the project proceeds by identifying and analyzing critical moments of democratization (the struggle for democracy) in each country, which helped shape the understanding of democracy there. The analysis is primarily qualitative and examines these critical moments through a dual lens. First, it assesses the presence and voice of women, as well as specifically gender equality advocates, during these periods or events of struggle. Second, it analyzes the gendered meanings of democracy frames articulated during these critical periods. The analysis in each country aims to understand the gender inclusiveness of these democratization processes as they evolved, including any critical junctures.
The larger project resulted in four country studies, a conceptual paper on gendered aspects of liberal democracy, a comparative study of the four countries, and a data set with "moment files" of protest mobilizations.