From Female Warriors to Motherly Worriers: A Typology of Women’s Embodied Political Performances in Israel's Pro-Democracy Protest

Triggered by the planned judicial overhaul of the current (far) right-wing Israeli government, a massive nonviolent protest movement emerged in December 2022 to fight for the country’s democracy. This paper comparatively investigates the public performances within the pro-democracy protest of five women’s movements, namely Building an Alternative [Bonot alternativa], Mothers On Guard [Imahot al hamishmar], Breaking Walls [Shovrot kirot], Mothers Against Violence [Imahot neged alimut] and Women Wage Peace [Nashim osot shalom]. Drawing on qualitative methodologies - ethnographic research and content analysis of material produced by the movements - done between December 2022 and January 2024, we propose a typology of gendered embodied protest performances that distinguishes activists’ performances on the basis of how their bodies are presented within the public sphere. Our typology includes the protective maternal body, the child-bearing body, the fighting body, the intersectional body, and the sexualized/naked body. We suggest that this typology can be applied and adapted to other socio-political arenas experiencing protests against illiberal anti-democratic politics. Highlighting the multifaceted nature of women’s activism within Israel’s 2023 pro-democracy protests and the way intersectionality shapes activism, the paper deepens our understanding of women’s contribution to nonviolent resistance and social movements, within the complex power structures of a democracy in decline.