Multidimensional and Multi-Level Cross-Country Comparative Analysis of Key Thematic Areas

The report presents a multidimensional, cross-country comparative analysis of how feminist and anti-gender mobilizations influence policymaking on gender-related issues in eight European countries: Italy, Denmark, France, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. It constitutes the core comparative output of WP3 within the FIERCE project and focuses on five key thematic areas: (1) LGBTIQ+ rights; (2) gender-based violence; (3) health and reproductive rights; (4) labour market, migration, and care; and (5) intersectionality. Drawing on data from interviews, critical frame analysis (CFA), and discourse network analysis (DNA), the report examines whether and how feminist and gendered policy frames gain political traction; which frames dominate public and policy debates; and under what conditions gender-related concerns are elevated, sidelined, or blocked in the policymaking process.

Analytically grounded in the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) and framing theory, the report interrogates how gender issues are framed as public problems, what policy solutions are proposed or resisted, and how political climates enable or constrain change. Particular attention is given to the mechanisms through which gender issues enter the political agenda and the role of policy entrepreneurs, strategic framing, and actor alliances in the creation of windows of opportunity for policy change. It also highlights the interplay between local, national, and transnational dynamics, tracing how actors’ discursive and strategic repertoires intersect with institutional opportunity structures.

This analysis aims to uncover broader patterns, tensions, and variations in how feminist movements advance gender equality, and how anti-gender forces contest or even reverse progress. By mapping both successful policy shifts and persistent blockages, the report offers new insight into the conditions under which gender issues influence, or fail to influence, contemporary democratic policymaking.