Gender Democracy

Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has been a central element of the Georgian Dream’s anti-democratic turn towards the far right. How do anti-LGBTQ+ statements and policies help GD expand its grip on power, and why does this strategy work? 

In July 2024, the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office organized an online discussion aimed at reimagining recent political, civic, and gender politics in Georgia.

The feminist movement and the LGBTQ+ community represent marginalized populations in Azerbaijan - they experience social, political, and economic discrimination and exclusion. 

Proposing a feminist foreign policy would raise eyebrows in Armenia, a country that has been involved in armed conflict and has conventional threats to its security and sovereignty in a complicated geopolitical environment.

This article critically discusses feminist foreign policy and applies a comprehensive understanding of it to Azerbaijan’s foreign policy and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.   

This article argues that the notion of gender equality is crucial to creating peace and triggering a transformation in political stalemates (and violent conflict). 

The first time I met Ani, she was 24 years old and planning to become a surrogate mother for the second time. As a researcher interested in surrogacy issues, I wanted to understand the reasons behind her decision. By Elene Gavashelishvili 

Ramil writes about the urgency of intersectionality by studying the narratives of Azerbaijani LGBTQI+/queer individuals who have been facing multi-layered discrimination in Azerbaijan. 

Ali Malikov is an queer activist and journalist. They are also one of the founders of the feminist-queer platform "Qıy vaar!" and 'Femkulis'. Ali shares stories of queer teachers in urban and rural Azerbaijan and clearly shows the challenges they face on a daily basis, both in their professional and personal lives

The project aims to support the self-organizing of babysitters and domestic workers to improve their working conditions.

The project "Social Work and Feminism" aims to promote women's equality through a feminist rethinking of social work.

We are glad to announce a call for contributions to a book project that seeks to reflect on masculinities in the South Caucasus through various angles, including personal, artistic, and scientific.

We are glad to announce a call for contributions to a book project that seeks to reflect on masculinities in the South Caucasus through various angles, including personal, artistic, and scientific.

This analysis aims to reveal the socio-linguistic features that are conditioned by war. The text does not claim to be in-depth research, but rather aims to show what the connection is between war, language, gender identity, and what additional layers there are for studying this topic further.

Vusala Hajiyeva, a transgender woman from Baku, Azerbaijan, tells about the isolation, which did not start during the covid-19 pandemic. She shares her personal story describing the multifaceted difficulties that transgender people face in her country, both on an individual and systemic level. Vusala tells stories of failure, hatred, love, and hope.

The play has been included in the 15 best plays of all time. The performance combines drama, classical and electronic music, opera, and elements of movement; it leaves the traditional scene and enters the country's main football field.

This project by “Communico Society”, plans to prepare interviews, discussions and multimedia materials about the diverse experiences, needs, and rights of women involved in care work.

This article points out how the various consolidated apparatuses render feminism and feminists the most visible other by utilizing different othering techniques such as criminalization and securitization. What is more, it depicts how feminism and women's issues started to get politicized, shifting from the "social/safe" to the "political/dangerous" space on a discursive level.  

"There is a house in Baku where cis and trans women live together and support each other. They also don't allow any transphobic people or anyone who could potentially be a threat to move in," said a friend to me in a conversation that one usually has when you haven't seen each other in months and want to share the world over a cup of tea. 

More than 50 people were injured in attacks on journalists and civil society in Tbilisi in early July in connection with Pride Week. The German Federal Government and the EU should strongly urge their Georgian partners to address the violence through prompt and comprehensive legal and political action.