DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17939979
title: Focus Group Transcripts on Democracy, Gender Equality, and Feminism in Four European Countries (2024–2025)
title: PUSHBACKLASH Task 2.3

description: This dataset contains nine anonymised qualitative focus group transcripts collected as part of Task 2.3 of the Horizon Europe project PushBackLash. The focus groups explore public perceptions of democracy, gender equality, and feminism, with particular attention to perceived backlash dynamics, democratic legitimacy, and everyday meaning-making.

Sixteen focus groups were conducted across four European countries (Austria, Spain, Hungary, and the United Kingdom) between December 2024 and May 2025, yielding data from 88 participants. Each country convened four groups following a harmonised design stratified by age (18–40; 41–65) and education (ISCED low vs high). Groups were mixed by gender and political orientation to stimulate interaction and collective reasoning.

Sessions followed a shared discussion guide structured around three thematic blocks: democracy, gender equality, and feminism. Data collection combined open discussion with participatory techniques such as silent brainstorming and self-assigned sentiment markers. Transcripts were analysed using a mixed qualitative strategy integrating lexical analysis, sentiment analysis, and reflexive thematic analysis to ensure both cross-national comparability and interpretive depth.

All transcripts have been fully anonymised. No personal identifiers are included. Ethical approval for cross-national data collection and processing was granted by the University of Valencia Ethics Committee for Research in Humans (Ref. 2024-SOCTUR-3392951; PI: Jorge Garcés Ferrer).

All focus group transcripts have been fully anonymised, with direct and indirect identifiers removed, and are therefore released as open access data for non-commercial academic research.
description: About Push*Back*Lash 

Project: 101061687 — PushBackLash — HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01

Project summary:

The goal of PUSH*BACK*LASH is twofold: (1) Firstly, to systematically inquire into the present-day contestation of gender equality issues and policies at both elite and citizen levels. Approaching democracy from a global feminist perspective, we employ a rigorous, comparative, multi-method design (e.g., experiments, surveys, interviews, participatory theatre). Our project enables: (a) identifying anti-gender strategies as well as best practices in counteracting them across space and time; and (b) assessing the effects of anti-gender discourses by focusing on parties, social media, and public opinion. Secondly, to (2) develop and test strategies that can effectively counteract anti-gender and anti-feminist discursive strategies. Aiming at supporting the quality of democratic governance in more inclusive European societies, we acknowledge intersections between gender and other social categories at all stages of the project (composition of consortium and advisory board; theory formulation, empirical investigation, and policy recommendations) and thus engage with stakeholders. To develop sustainable solutions, we bring together gender activists, EU experts, and researchers from several fields of political science (political theory, public policy, political parties, public opinion, political behavior), anthropology, communication and media, philosophy, sociology, and social psychology. PUSH*BACK*LASH is a transdisciplinary, gender-diverse consortium aiming at equipping pro-equality actors with practical toolkits for responding to anti-gender equality and anti-feminist discursive strategies and backlash tactics.
description: English Translation Policy and Documentation

All non-English transcripts in this dataset were translated into English using ChatGPT (GPT-5, OpenAI). Translations were produced under human supervision and reviewed for consistency in meaning, tone, and speaker formatting. The original language versions remain the authoritative sources for interpretive or linguistic analysis.

On the transcription

All participants’ names have been changed and any direct or indirect identifiers removed to protect their anonymity.

On copyright and attribution

These anonymized transcripts are licensed under CC-BY. Individuals may re-use this document/publication free of charge in any format for research, private study or internal circulation within an organisation. You must re-use it accurately and not present it in a misleading context. You must acknowledge the authors, the project title, and the source documents.