How Autocrats Weaponize Women's Rights

This essay introduces the concept of "autocratic genderwashing" to shed light on why authoritarian states adopt gender-equality reforms. Autocratic genderwashing occurs when autocrats take credit for advances in gender equality in order to turn attention away from persistent nondemocratic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of democracy 2022-04, Vol.33 (2), p.60-75
Main Authors: Bjarnegård, Elin, Zetterberg, Pär
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authoritarianism
Autocracy
Cold War
Competition
Democracy
Elections
Equal rights
Equality
Gender equity
Gender inequality
Human rights
Legitimacy
Legitimation
Morality
Political representation
Political systems
Politics
Power
Violations
Womens rights
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Summary:This essay introduces the concept of "autocratic genderwashing" to shed light on why authoritarian states adopt gender-equality reforms. Autocratic genderwashing occurs when autocrats take credit for advances in gender equality in order to turn attention away from persistent nondemocratic practices, such as violations of electoral integrity and human rights. In doing so, they exploit the often simplistic association between gender equality and democracy to seek legitimacy and achieve regime stability. Gender equality is used to devise legitimation strategies tailored to specific groups. Awareness of this phenomenon might make scholars and democracy activists less likely to accept inclusion as a substitute for competition in nondemocratic states.
ISSN:1045-5736
1086-3214
1086-3214
DOI:10.1353/jod.2022.0018