Alexandria Wilson-McDonald, PhD

Peer Reviewed Publications:

 

“Gendering Violence in the Age of Anti-genderism: Feminist Framing of Violence Against Women in Slovakia." Communist and Post-Communist Studies. (2023). 

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This article examines the collective action frames of violence against women put forth by women’s organizations in the gender equality community in Slovakia during the current period of heightened conservative activism against gender and sexual equality. This study finds that women’s organizations in Slovakia overwhelmingly deploy a Gender Equality frame with distinctly feminist-oriented content to resist violence against women during the current period of anti-gender activism and accompanying state hostility toward feminist goals. This differs from previous studies that find women’s organizations in Central Eastern Europe historically deploy gender-neutral frames, providing evidence to the theory that anti-genderism can contribute to more radical activism as a response. Frames are contextualized through a discussion of the anti-gender movement in the country utilizing the concept of discursive opportunity structure.

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“Do Czech Women Need ‘Gender?' A Conceptual History of ‘Gender’ in Czechia." Feminist Review. ( 2023)

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In recent years, there has been a growing anti-feminist, conservative movement across many parts of the world known as the anti-gender movement. This movement has been especially strong in Central Eastern Europe, where anti-gender actors have framed ‘gender’ as a static, foreign concept imported from ‘the West’ and destructive to ‘traditional’ societies. Utilising a postcolonial feminist approach, I examine the concept of ‘gender’ in Czechia, drawing attention to the role played by Czech academics, activists and policymakers in negotiating the use of the term ‘gender’. This article traces the history of the term from the 1990s when ‘gender’ was first introduced to a Czech academic audience, through public seminars and lectures hosted by the Prague Gender Studies Centre, to the present-day inclusion of gender mainstreaming discourse in Czech policy documents. I reveal that ‘gender’ is not a timeless, clearly defined, fixed term wholly imported from ‘the West’ but rather a concept with a variable and complicated history. Thus, this crucial term, first developed in Anglo-academia, is not uncontested or uncritically accepted, contrary to the claims made by anti-gender actors. The findings presented in this article hold implications critical to transnational feminist dialogue and activism during the current period of growing global anti-feminist sentiment.

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“Creating a Hostile State in Slovakia: Anti-Gender Political Strategies and Impacts” book chapter in The War on Gender and The Gender of War in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Katalin Fábián, Lexington Books (forthcoming)

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Published Essays:

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“‘Gender’ Is at the Core of Attacks on Democracy in the U.S. and Abroad.” Ms. Magazine. (2023)"

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“Amid the Russian Invasion, Ukraine Stands up for Gender Equality.” Ms. Magazine. (2022)"

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“Eastern Europe’s Anti-gender Movement and What it Means for America.” Ms. Magazine. (2021)"

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"Combating Violence Against Women in the Czech Republic: Beyond the Coronavirus.” The Brno Daily. (2020)

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Book chapter “Bridging the Divide Between Eastern and Western Feminisms.” In Welcome to the Light: Writings of Emerging Feminist Thinkers. Edited by Jennifer Rubino. (2020)

 

“Want To Be A Modern Sophisticated Girl? Do Not Complain. Is Slovakia In A Post-feminist Era?” FEMINIST.FYI. (2019)

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Book Reviews:

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“A Queer History of Communism: Navigating Sexuality and Gender in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1989” an analytic review of Queer Encounters with Communist Power: Non-heterosexual Lives and the State in Czechoslovakia, 1948-1989 by Věra Sokolová. Feminist Critique East European Journal of Feminist and Queer Studies. (2022)

 

Book Review of Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism and Other Arguments for Economic Independence by Kristen Ghodsee. Journal of Gender Studies. (2019)

 

Book Review of Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women’s Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War by Kristen Ghodsee. International Feminist Journal of Politics. (2019)

 

Book Review of Czech Feminisms: Perspectives on Gender in East Central Europe. ed. by Iveta Jusová and Jiřina Šiklová. European Journal of Women’s Studies. (2018)

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Manuscripts in Progress:

 

“Framing Feminism and the Anti-gender Movement in Czechia, Slovakia, and  Poland.”​

• Book manuscript in preparation

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“Creating a Hostile State in Slovakia: anti-gender actor’s political strategies and impacts.”

• Book chapter in preparation for an edited volume on anti-gender actors in Europe 

 

“Government Strategy as Activism: A Frame Analysis of Czechia's Gender Equality Documents” 

• Article manuscript in preparation

 

“What is “Gender as Symbolic Glue?” Concept Formulation and Application.”

• Article manuscript in preparation