Changing Patterns of Interaction between Anti-gender States and International Organizations Pursuing Gender Equality Agenda

International organizations, which institutionally pursue a gender equality agenda and promote practices and norms that align with this agenda operate and conduct projects under the sovereignty of national states. The recent authoritarian and anti-gender turns require further research on the complex relationship between state actors -which often embark on anti-gender norms- and international organizations -which particularly pursue a gender equality agenda-. The literature extensively highlights the positive role that transnational organizations and international civil society actors play in Global South. Empirical studies demonstrate that international organizations excessively invest in projects to promote gender equality reforms. However, the interaction between transnational organizations and national policy machineries in contexts facing antidemocratic and anti-gender turns is understudied. The paper investigates the patterns through which different types of international organizations that embrace gender equality operate in countries ruled by anti-gender governments. The empirical focus is on the institutional encounters of international civil society actors in Turkey and Hungary.