Gender Ideology, the Figure of the Child, and the Fear of Cultural Reproduction

March 28, 2026 by
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This article examines the role that the figure of the child has played in anti-gender arguments. Specifically, it focuses on the emergence of anti-gender protests and rhetoric in France around the 2013 gay marriage law, the mariage pour tous. I argue that “gender ideology” came to feature in French right-wing discourse during these gay marriage debates because of children. The bill mentioned neither gender nor children and yet most of the controversy centered on these two topics. My second argument is that the struggle around “gender ideology” in Continue reading → Continue reading →

Threading Liberalism with Authoritarianism: Egyptian Children as Geopolitical Actors

March 28, 2026 by
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What comes into view when we take childhood as a window into larger political formations? How do “children” as a category reinforce or unsettle some of the most enduring foundations of modern politics? In this essay, I examine the politics of Egyptian children to bring liberalism and authoritarianism, which are oftentimes studied as separates, into a unified analytical framework. I do so by examining portrayals of Egyptian children in the media and in government discourse at a time of heightened authoritarianism in Egypt that is Continue reading → Continue reading →

Reading Through Innocence: From Liberal to Illiberal Politics

March 28, 2026 by
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Starting with a discussion of the genocide and the figure of the child in Gaza, this essay brings together the collection “Vulnerability, Innocence and Futurity: Essays on Contemporary Politics of Childhood,” arguing that the various essays show how children serve as a battleground for the shifting relationship between liberalism and illiberalism in the contemporary world. I suggest that the shift towards illiberalism is visible by looking at the concept of innocence, and how it changes in relation to children. Specifically, the liberal, Enlightenment belief that Continue reading → Continue reading →