13 February 2026

by Arianna Salvini (student of Communication Strategies, University of Padova)

“I believe that, especially in these dark times, it is important never to lose the pleasure of doing research and creating communities where we can discuss gender-related issues and find joy in academia”.

Emanuela Lombardo, now Professor of Political Science at Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence (Italy), is at the forefront of innovative research on Gender Equality Policies in Spain and Southern Europe, approaching the subject from an intersectional perspective. As one of the founders and former directors of the “Grupo de investigación de Género y Política - GEYPO” at the Complutense University of Madrid, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the group's direction and impact. 

Established in 2010 by Professors Emanuela Lombardo and María Bustelo within the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, the GEYPO research group emerged from a desire to foster collaboration and support among scholars. As Professor Lombardo explains, it was born out of the need to "create a space where we could share ideas and discuss together to make the experience of doing a doctoral thesis less lonely".

Initially, the group focused on organizing internal seminars for PhD students to present their work and receive feedback from researchers at various career stages. Over time, the scope of activities expanded significantly. Professor Lombardo notes, "We went from seminars that were only for PhD students and sometimes discussing texts that were interesting to the group, to having 'visiting researchers' presenting their work, with the aim of collaborating with them. We also provided mentoring within the group when researchers needed to apply for postdoctoral fellowships or write their first paper".

Even though GEYPO's primary focus remains on gender and politics, it has cultivated an interdisciplinary approach. This diverse perspective is enriched by the involvement of professors from various fields, including Sociology and Social Work, as well as a dynamic group of predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows. This multifaceted composition allows for a more comprehensive exploration of gender-related issues in academia and beyond.

The group adopted a focused approach to academic research. The Professor explains, “The GEYPO group has always been quite focused on research, so we developed this aspect also to obtain  the group’s official recognition as a research group on the part of Spain’s ministry of research, which we achieved in 2018. After formalising the group, we began participating in calls for proposals issued by the state research agency that funds research and evaluates research groups at various Spanish Universities. The group received an “Excellent” rating in both 2018 and 2022. [...] For this reason, at this stage,we have focused on consolidating academic excellence, which was extremely important for a group dealing with gender and politics”.

As for collaboration with civil society, such interactions are primarily maintained on an individual basis by the group's researchers. “For example, working on the CCindle project, we collaborated with feminist movements and parliamentarians to create 'feminist democracy labs'. They are laboratories on feminist democracy to address the challenges posed by the far right and anti-gender groups, which equality policies must confront and respond to today”, says the Professor.

Shifting focus to the broader institutional context, at the Complutense University of Madrid the integration of gender issues into courses and programmes has been a gradual process. “Since 2004, there has been a gradual institutionalisation of the issue, starting with the creation of equality units in all universities in Spain that have promoted a process of gender mainstreaming within teaching and research, as well as within the university’s internal policy”, she notes,  highlighting that the first course on gender-based issues was introduced in the Faculty of Political Science in 2005.

Today Departments such as Sociology, as well as the Department of Anthropology and Social Work, offer courses on “gender sociology” and “family sociology” that address issues from a gender perspective. Despite this progress, challenges remain. The professor emphasizes, “there is much to improve in order to consolidate and institutionalise teaching on this subject. I believe that the main problem is implementation. Although Spain has made significant progress with gender mainstreaming, which is incorporated into laws, plans, and programmes, such as the “Planes de igualdad”, challenges remain in its implementation. For example, looking at the extent to which gender perspective is integrated in political science courses, I can say that gender mainstreaming has not yet been fully achieved”.

Since gender studies is a subject that still struggles to gain recognition, groups working in this field often find themselves having to face some resistance: “Resistance is always present, especially when it comes to gender issues. Personally, I decided to turn resistance into a subject of study. In fact, when I participated in university meetings where resistance was expressed, I began to take notes because it is clearly something extremely interesting to study”. 

Prof. Lombardo also highlights the existence of three main forms of coping mechanisms: political and institutional support, funding, and networks. The political and institutional support at the Spanish national level, starting with Zapatero’s socialist government in 2004,  has been crucial in legitimizing equality policies and gender studies, as “it gave us legitimacy when we had to argue for equality measures or requests made by and for the gender and politics group”. The group's recognition as a center of excellence has also secured funding for continued research into gender-based issues related to politics. Additionally, international collaborations and "feminist networks", such as with the Instituto de Investigaciones Feministas, have been vital in countering anti-gender movements. Professor Lombardo emphasizes: “For us, relationships with other international groups have always been a fundamental part of our work. One example is the European Consortium on Political Research (ECPR) and the Gender and Politics section therein, and particularly the European Conference of Politics and Gender (ECPG), established in 2009, which gathers every two years. It is essential for us to participate in these events so that our researchers can begin to build their community network”.

In addition to the resistance encountered, the political context significantly influences the work of gender-focused research groups. While GEYPO has not been directly attacked, certain anti-gender policies are spreading in Spain too, supported, for example, by the far-right party Vox. Professor Lombardo notes, “I must admit that the main consequence has been the need to begin studying anti-gender movements and, above all, feminist responses to them. I would say that, at this point in time, it has not had an impact in the sense of setting us back, either in terms of the issue itself or the interest in it”.

However, she emphasizes that the impact of anti-gender policies can vary depending on a researcher's career stage and academic position. Referring to herself, she explains that she can afford to have more tools to “defend herself” because she is in a consolidated academic position, while someone in a more precarious one might find it difficult to know how to proceed. “In my opinion, it is very important to be careful to protect those who are in the most precarious situations and to protect ourselves as an academic community working on gender studies. I believe it is extremely necessary to build communities and networks and share strategies and ways to protect so-called “scholars at risk”, such as those involved in gender studies, who are under attack worldwide and enjoy varying degrees of protection depending on the contexts in which they operate. In my opinion, universities should do much more to protect all staff working in gender studies. National associations must also protect scholars; otherwise, this attack on the development of gender studies risks affecting society as a whole”.

Despite the growing centrality of gender studies in academia, there's room for improvement in institutional support and public engagement. Professor Lombardo notes, "There is certainly strong interest among scholars; from this perspective, Gender and Politics Studies are no longer considered marginal", emphasising that European researchers are already focusing heavily on these issues. However, she highlights the need for institutional legitimization, protection, and support to ensure continuity. "I would say that at a university level it is extremely important for academic authorities to recognise the importance of these studies, both from a theoretical point of view and in terms of funding and resources. At the university policy level, it is also important to retain and stabilise research staff working in the field of Gender and Politics".

Professor Lombardo's involvement in the CCindle project exemplifies the ongoing efforts to address anti-gender policies and the attacks directed at gender-based studies. This project - funded by the European Commission’s specific budget line HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01-03 with the theme “Feminisms for a new age of democracy” under the Horizon Europe programme - focuses on democracy, gender equality, and feminist practices in contemporary democracy. Lombardo explains, "The central aspect of the project is the analysis of the anti-gender policy that is developing in Europe, which has negative effects not only on equality and feminist policies but also on democracy in general, as it attacks organisations working for the democratisation of society, such as feminist organisations, anti-racist organisations, alongside groups working with LGBTQIA+ people. In this project, we analyze anti-gender politics and focus in particular on the feminist responses to anti-gender politics from both movements and institutions, aiming to collaborate in improving this response. The creation and organisation of these feminist democracy labs, already underway and continuously developed in collaboration with civil society organizations, women parliamentarians, and students, allow us to identify the challenges emerging from a gender perspective, to assess how they are perceived within universities, and to explore appropriate avenues for response".

As a Principal Investigator in the Complutense team, Professor Lombardo has also coordinated with Johanna Kantola a work package on feminist institutional responses, which contains a series of interviews with deputies who are responding to the attack by anti-gender actors in Parliament.

In conclusion, the discourse on gender issues remains a dynamic and complex field that extends beyond academia, involving society, institutions, and individuals. In this perspective, the creation of networks and a shared gender studies community represents a valuable opportunity to foster collaboration, exchange strategies, and collectively respond to the challenges and attacks posed by anti-gender policies, thereby supporting democratic principles and practices.