To most observers, the success of recent mobilizations against same-sex marriage in France came as a surprise. Opponents organized some of the largest demonstrations of the last thirty years, and violent acts also took place. In addition, the movement succeeded to block François Hollande’s most controversial electoral promises, namely around kinship and reproductive technologies. Nowadays, despite the adoption of the bill they were opposing, these activists keep mobilizing. They denounce the effects of what they call “gender theory”, and combat the introduction of gender studies in French schools.

This panel gathers senior scholars, junior professors and doctoral students who are specialized on French gender and sexual politics but do not work in France. It offers a foreign and often comparative perspective on what happened over the last months. Its aims are twofold. It tries to map this recent wave of opposition, and to explain its rather surprising success. It also discusses its broader significance for French politics and society. Panelists use a wide range of analytical tools and perspectives, from social movement studies to theology, and discuss the specific flavor of concepts such as kinship and the family, the nation or secularism in contemporary France.