Locating the Opposition to Istanbul Convention in the Multilayered Dynamics of Gendered Challenges: Reflections on an Actor- Centered Analysis on Eastern Europe: Politicizing Gender and Democracy in the Context of the Istanbul Contention

Over the past decade, anti-gender campaigns have been extended into debates targeting the Istanbul Convention (IC). This review looks at the conceptual and explanatory frameworks, and the inferences of Andrea Krizsán and Conny Roggeband’s comparative study of the anti-IC actors in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Croatia. This well-structured analysis deals with the opposition framings and strategies, and it identifies a reconfigured relationship between state and societal forces. The actor-centered approach of the study also looks at the VAW policy and actors impacted by the politicized disputes in the context of democratic erosion. This review highlights the critical role of the state actors, and draws attention to those issues to be explored further in the context of anti-IC debates and VAW policy problems.