Feminist and Antifeminist Movements in Germany : Can the conflict be reframed to support a more productive intergroup engagement?

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the intergroup conflict between the feminist and antifeminist movements in Germany. After a historical overview of both movements and relevant current debates, the thesis focuses on theories regarding intergroup conflict and conflict de-escalation before analysing qualitative interviews with feminist activists to explore their perspectives of the conflict.

Through reflective thematic analysis, the interviews are analysed to answer the question of whether this intergroup conflict can be reframed to be a more productive engagement. To answer this question three hypotheses regarding feminist and antifeminist perception of the conflict from a feminist point of view as well as their thoughts on positive intergroup cooperation are analysed. The findings suggest that while a complete reframing of the conflict is unlikely at the moment, small theme-specific cooperation might be possible which could lead to larger-scale cooperation in the future.