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Is civil society´s influence favorable to the evolvement of democratic structures and democratic gender relations? While traditional approaches would answer in the affirmative, the authors highlight the ambivalences. Focusing on women´s organizations in authoritarian and hybrid regimes, they cover the full spectrum of civil society´s possible performance: from its important role in the overcoming of power relations to its reinforcement as backers of government structures or the distribution of antifeminist ideas.

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Gabriele Wilde and Annette Zimmer are professors at the University of Münster.

Katharina Obuch and Isabelle-Christine Panreck are research associates at the University of Münster.

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