Sense AGENDa | How Ordinary People Make Sense of Anti-Gender Messages

Summary
This project explores why ordinary people continue to oppose and, in some European democracies, increasingly push back against gender and sexual equality. In face of anti-gender mobilizations, i.e. the campaigns against gender and LGBT rights that have been growing in strength and influence since the mid-2000s, we urgently need to understand how individuals make sense of anti-gender messages, what makes these messages resonant to different audiences, and how and why they succeed or fail in different contexts. In examining these questions, this study will adopt a cross-cultural qualitative research design, comparing the strategically selected cases of Croatia and Belgium (Flanders). By a unique combination of democratic forums, pre-acquainted focus groups and individual interviews, this study aims to understand how ordinary people evaluate publicly available ideas about gender and sexuality; how the individuals' personal and social characteristics and identifications shape their evaluations at both the individual and collective level; and how are these gender and sexuality evaluations and interpretations situated into contexts with different climates of opinions and institutional-legal frameworks. Based on this, the study aims to build a theoretical model of cultural reception that connects individual and group perspectives and socio-cultural contexts. The project's insights will contribute to various disciplines studying the interactions of institutions, values and individual meanings in general, and the anti-gender mobilizations more specifically, ranging from sociology and political sciences to social movements, public opinion and gender and sexuality studies. The study's results are also intended to generate wider social impact by highlighting the concerns the policymakers and the stakeholders need more strongly address if they desire to open a constructive public dialogue with citizens struggling how to best make sense of difficult issues in an uncertain world.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101025722
Start date: 05-07-2021
End date: 22-12-2024
Total budget - Public funding: 239 195,52 Euro - 239 195,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

This project explores why ordinary people continue to oppose and, in some European democracies, increasingly push back against gender and sexual equality. In face of anti-gender mobilizations, i.e. the campaigns against gender and LGBT rights that have been growing in strength and influence since the mid-2000s, we urgently need to understand how individuals make sense of anti-gender messages, what makes these messages resonant to different audiences, and how and why they succeed or fail in different contexts. In examining these questions, this study will adopt a cross-cultural qualitative research design, comparing the strategically selected cases of Croatia and Belgium (Flanders). By a unique combination of democratic forums, pre-acquainted focus groups and individual interviews, this study aims to understand how ordinary people evaluate publicly available ideas about gender and sexuality; how the individuals' personal and social characteristics and identifications shape their evaluations at both the individual and collective level; and how are these gender and sexuality evaluations and interpretations situated into contexts with different climates of opinions and institutional-legal frameworks. Based on this, the study aims to build a theoretical model of cultural reception that connects individual and group perspectives and socio-cultural contexts. The project's insights will contribute to various disciplines studying the interactions of institutions, values and individual meanings in general, and the anti-gender mobilizations more specifically, ranging from sociology and political sciences to social movements, public opinion and gender and sexuality studies. The study's results are also intended to generate wider social impact by highlighting the concerns the policymakers and the stakeholders need more strongly address if they desire to open a constructive public dialogue with citizens struggling how to best make sense of difficult issues in an uncertain world.

Status

TERMINATED

Call topic

MSCA-IF-2020

Update Date

28-04-2024
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.3. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
H2020-EU.1.3.2. Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
MSCA-IF-2020 Individual Fellowships