Andrea Peto

Andrea Pető is a Professor at the Department of Gender Studies at Central European University, Vienna, Austria, a Research Affiliate of the CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest, and a Doctor of Science at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Her works on gender, illiberalism, and politics have been translated into 26 languages.
She received numerous awards for her contributions to public life, including the 2018 All European Academies (ALLEA) Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values and the 2022 University of Oslo Human Rights Award. She is a Doctor Honoris Causa of Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden (2020). Recent publications include co-authoring a monograph with Zsuzsanna Balazs, Orban`s Affairs with Women. The Illiberal Playbook: Gender, Power and Control (CEEOL Press, 2026) is out in Hungarian and will be published in Polish and with Krisztina Politzer Maymon, The Three Graves of Anna Szenes. Memory and Bodypolitics in Hungary and Israel, Brill De Gruyter, 2026.
The highly contested category of gender is always central to her work as a researcher and teacher, as well as to my engagement as a feminist public intellectual. Over the last few years, she has analyzed and debated the relationship between illiberalism and anti-gender campaigns targeting higher education, gender studies, and gender scholars. Andrea Petö has been tireless in speaking out about the importance of historical knowledge and sustained conversation in the public sphere, creating sustainable and democratic societies where human rights are at the core.
In response to the growing pressures on academic freedom worldwide, she co-developed the Pocket Guide for Academics under Attack, (Josset, B., Lunić, A., Peto, A., & Sikkink, R. (2026). Pocket Guide for Academics under Attack (p. 64). DÖW. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19730170)a practical resource supporting scholars facing political harassment and institutional threats. The guide will be translated into 26 languages, demonstrating its international impact and relevance.