Between threat and opportunity: Anti-gender mobilisation in post-EU accession Croatia

Sammanfattning

This thesis investigates the role of EU accession in shaping the mobilisation strategies of anti-gender civil society actors in Croatia. Drawing on social movement theory, Europeanisation, and multi-level governance, it develops a causal mechanism whereby EU accession reconfigured anti-gender actors’ political opportunity structures in ways that contributed to a combination of EU-critical framing and EU-level engagement. This coexistence of strategies is conceptualised as the anti-gender EU engagement paradox. The mechanism is tested through a theory-testing process tracing analysis of two Croatian organisations, Glas roditelja za djecu (GROZD) and U ime obitelji (UIO), spanning 2006 to 2024. The findings further refine the paradox as a domestic feedback loop through which EU-level engagement is reinvested into national mobilisation. It concludes by reflecting on implications for EU oversight and anti-gender mobilisation in the Western Balkans.