Care Crisis, Anti-Gender Authoritarianism and Feminist Possibilities

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31273/fd.n8.2025.1981

Abstract

The care crisis, erupting at the height of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, exposed the female body and care labour as critical sites for system management. Anti-gender authoritarianism, through increased violence and patronage of a traditional patriarchal gender order, is on the rise globally, seeking to keep women in ‘their place’. How can feminism, which has so far pursued a liberal approach of integrating into mainstream society, confront this transgression?  Guided by this question, the article probes into the patriarchal division of labour, which is at the heart of the care crisis and anti-gender authoritarianism; assesses gender mainstreaming for its capacity to deliver equality; and ends with a reflection on feminist possibilities for emancipatory praxis in responding to the new challenges.

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Author Biography

  • Yakin Ertürk, Middle East Technical University, Ankara

    Yakin Ertürk is Emeritus Prof. of Sociology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara and former UN Rapporteur on Violence against Women (2003-2009).  Her publications include Violence without Borders: Paradigm, policy and praxis concerning violence against women (Washington DC: Women’s Learning Partnership, 2016); Co-editor, Feminist Advocacy, Family Law and Violence against Women: International Perspectives (New York: Routledge, 2019); and “Political Economy of Peace Processes and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda” in Conflict, Security and Development (2020).

Image 2: You and I (2021) by Malak Mattar

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Published

2025-07-14

Issue

No. 8 (2025): Human Rights in an Age of Populist Authoritarianism

Section

Feature Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Yakin Ertürk

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