Does Gender Play a Role?
A Gendered Frame Analysis of the Pandemic Skeptic Protests in Austria
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Abstract
After the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, a heterogeneous protest movement emerged in Austria that managed to mobilize more than 20,000 people to protest against the prevention measures imposed by the government in February 2021. The preliminary results from the survey we conducted in January showed that an unusually large proportion of women participated in these protests. In this article, we aim at exploring the gendered aspects of the protests through the use of a frame analysis. Against the backdrop of an extensive public debate on the gendered ramifications of the pandemic, we also ask whether experiences of double burden were incorporated into the problem definition. We base our analysis on a mixed-methods approach that complements the results of a quantitative protest survey with qualitative interviews, social media analysis, and data from protest observations.
Contributor Notes
Antje Daniel is substitute professor at the Department of Development Studies at the University of Vienna. Her research interests include political sociology, democracy, social movements, gender, and environmental activism with a research focus on Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Email: antje.daniel@univie.ac.at
Markus Brunner is a Social Psychologist and Sociologist, Lecturer, and Co-Head of the psychology master's program entitled “Social Psychology and Psychosocial Practice” at Sigmund Freud University Vienna. His research interests include right-wing extremism, nationalism, anti-Semitism, anti-feminism, and the emotional legacies of National Socialism. Email: markus.brunner@sfu.ac.at
Florian Knasmüller is a Psychologist and PhD Candidate at Sigmund Freud University Vienna. His research interests lie in the field of psychoanalytical approaches in social psychology with a focus on conspiracy theories, right-wing populism, racism, and anti-Semitism. Email: florian.knasmueller@sfu.ac.at