Listen to the special Pride Month episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills podcast!

How have anti-gender movements transformed their strategies to target schools and policies? What lies behind the sudden fear of “gender ideology” in public education? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Paolo Gusmeroli discusses his work in this episode of Knowledge Pills.

Anti-gender campaigns, while claiming to protect children and traditional family values, raise critical issues regarding democratic regression, school censorship, and the weaponization of parental vetoes. Starting from a recent controversial school incident in Italy and a new restrictive decree on affectivity education, this episode delves into the societal impacts of these movements, examining how they shape public debate and challenge minority rights.

In this episode, Professor Paolo Gusmeroli discusses the evolution of neo-conservative rhetoric, explaining how these movements have shifted from open hostility to sophisticated strategies like “stigma inversion.” Drawing from recent political science frameworks like the “Neo-Catholic hypothesis,” he breaks down how specialized dissenting groups mimetize their religious agendas under an “apolitical” banner to influence public institutions and parents alike.

About the speaker:

Paolo Gusmeroli is Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova (Italy). His research interests focus on gender, sexuality, family practices and social reproduction. He has published on transformations and conflicts around intimate citizenship in Italy. Among his most recent articles, ‘Narratives of Catholic women against “Gender ideology” in Italian schools: defending childhood, struggling with pluralism’ (2021, with Luca Trappolin), and “Is gender-critical feminism feeding the neo-conservative anti-gender rhetoric? Snapshots from the Italian public debate” (2024).

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