Thèses sur le sujet « Feminism – Italy »

Partint d'estudis acadèmics de gènere i recerques qualitatives, feministes i etnogràfiques anteriors, aquesta tesi adopta un enfocament socioantropològic alhora que explora una sèrie de reflexions crítiques i creatives sobre les pràctiques i les relacions de gènere derivades del comportament antisexista que adopten avui alguns homes a Itàlia i Espanya. A més, s'ha d'entendre en un context de crisi econòmica neoliberal i de la societat de la informació. Empíricament, el nostre objectiu és analitzar de manera contextualitzada la manera com les pràctiques dels homes es poden reconfigurar materialment i discursivament cap a un canvi positiu. D'altra banda, en l'àmbit teòric, els nostres objectius són tres: en primer lloc, entendre i establir relacions genealògiques entre grups d'homes i les tradicions feministes amb les quals es relacionen; en segon lloc, investigar les vies de la seva política de masculinitat orientada al feminisme, i, en tercer lloc, oferir material aclaridor i contribuir, així, als debats políticament i acadèmicament rellevants en contextos de transformació de les relacions de gènere.
Partiendo de estudios académicos de género e investigaciones cualitativas, feministas y etnográficas anteriores, esta tesis adopta un enfoque socioantropológico a la vez que explora una serie de reflexiones críticas y creativas sobre las prácticas y las relaciones de género derivadas del comportamiento antisexista que adoptan hoy algunos hombres en Italia y España. Debe, además, entenderse en un contexto de crisis económica neoliberal y de la sociedad de la información. Empíricamente, nuestro objetivo es analizar de manera contextualizada la manera como las prácticas de los hombres se pueden reconfigurar materialmente y discursivamente hacia un cambio positivo. Por otro lado, en el ámbito teórico, nuestros objetivos son tres: en primer lugar, entender y establecer relaciones genealógicas entre grupos de hombres y las tradiciones feministas con las que se relacionan; en segundo lugar, investigar las vías de su política de masculinidad orientada al feminismo, y, en tercer lugar, ofrecer material aclaratorio y contribuir, así, a los debates políticamente y académicamente relevantes en contextos de transformación de las relaciones de género.
With previous academic gender studies and qualitative, feminist, ethnographical research laying its foundation, this thesis takes on a socio-anthropological approach while exploring a number of critical-creative elaborations on practices and gender relations resulting from contemporary, anti-sexist men¿s engagements in Italy and Spain. Moreover, it must be understood within a context of neoliberal economic crises and the information society. Empirically speaking, we aim to take a contextualized look at how men¿s practices can be materially and discursively reconfigured towards positive change. Meanwhile, on a theoretical level, our objectives are threefold: firstly, to understand and draw genealogical relations between groups of men and the feminist traditions they relate to; secondly, to investigate the pathways of their feminist-oriented masculinity politics; and, thirdly, to offer insightful contributions to politically and academically relevant debates in gender-transformative contexts.

The starting point of this study is the common assumption that the Italian society is based on a patriarchal ideological system in which racism is often normalized. The binary distinction between women and men in Italian society has evolved into discussions and awareness raising on genderbased violence or violence against women. As intersectionality has become a central point in Italian contemporary feminism, this study uses the analysis of topics related to the historical creation of the idea of Italian-ness, migration and the influence of right-wing politics in current gender related issues as the basis of a feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. With this in mind, using intersectional theory, postcolonial feminism, and studies of whiteness, the study aims at exploring as to which extent the discourses of three white Italian women, who identify as feminist activists, influence the presence of racialized Italian women in their work. This study should create academic data and contribute to a research that is extremely limited on these topics.

In this research project, I address critical questions about Italian post-feminism, by exploring the way the peculiarities of Italian media and culture have contributed in producing a specifically Italian form of post-feminism. While a post-feminist subjectivity, in terms of neoliberal, individualist, narcissist standards among young women, has been observed and commented on by a few Italian authors, the important relation between post-feminist sexuality and subjectivity, Berlusconi’s political and cultural project, and the media has not yet been analysed in depth. To investigate this, I employ a feminist postructuralist approach to the study of media and society, and explore the way the media produces and reproduces discourses of gender and sexuality that have circulated in Berlusconism. The thesis highlights how young femininity has emerged in the national popular imagination as barometer of social change, at the same time becoming subjected to increased scrutiny and policing. In the first two chapters I discuss the theoretical framework and methodology of the thesis. I then explore Berlusconi’s influence on media and politics (Chapter 3). I define Berlusconi’s cultural and political hegemony in terms of a neoliberal authoritarian populism, in which the media played a fundamental role by articulating representations of femininity and female sexuality that work to secure the status quo and existing relations of power. Following this, is the analysis of the case studies, in which the connection between the legal system and the media provides a surface of emergence for the figuration of post-feminist femininity. This is articulated through cultural discourses about commercial sexuality (Chapter 4), phallicism (Chapter 5) and mental health (Chapter 6). Ultimately, this research project sheds light on the way media representations of femininity and female sexuality relate to Berlusconism, where longstanding sexist and misogynist discourses have been accompanied by new ones, integral to neoliberal governmentality.

This thesis is a study of Italian women’s sensual embodiment in leisure and tourism experiences (involving beautifying in the city and tanning at the beach) in, and around, the city of Rome. The central link in this thesis connects the field of tourism studies with social cultural theories of the ‘body’, placing this research within the most recent theoretical debates on the body. It is argued that in everyday life people take their bodies for granted, yet the body is absolutely crucial to the way we engage with the world and the people around us. Through analysing Italian women’s embodiment, this thesis seeks to gain in-depth understanding of Italian society and more particularly women’s position in society, thereby positioning the field of tourism studies as a means for analysing people’s quotidian cultural habits. Embracing the critical paradigm, this thesis takes a reflexive and embodied approach to research, challenging the all-pervasive hegemonic dominance of positivist, masculinist Western academic approaches. Through post feminist lenses, auto ethnography, in-depth interviewing and document analysis were used to carry out the field work, with the central aim of capturing and contextualising Italian women’s voices and embodiment. This research shows Italian society to be strongly patriarchal, reflecting gender inequity and inequality. Women are dominated in discourse (politics, senior management and television shows being predominantly male), pressured into family roles, and objectified in society through the media and the male gaze. Paradoxically, women are empowered through choosing to reproduce patriarchal values of beauty and objectification (the power of the agency), and to embody these in a sensual and sensuous way, thereby reversing power relations in their favour. Aiming to understand Italian society through exploring women’s sensual embodiment, this thesis contributes to a broader understanding of the gendered construction of social identity, and of patriarchy and power relations, from a woman’s perspective. It contributes to gender and body studies in the tourism field through bringing these separate fields together, through exploring the power of agency in embodiment, and through the critical research approach to the body.

Cette thèse explore les reconfigurations contemporaines du féminisme en Italie, et en particulier les pratiques, les représentations et les narrations de femmes engagées contre l’homophobie et le racisme à partir des relations postcoloniales et d’un sens libre de la différence sexuelle.Ces femmes composent des ensembles de résistances où sont en train d’émerger des positionnements politiques nouveaux, dont les « devenirs engagées » excédent ou resignifient de façon inédite des catégories occidentales telles que « lesbienne », « féministe », « migrante », « culture » etc. Il s’agit de sujets excentriques qui travaillent les séparatismes dans les mouvements sociaux, et mettent en échec les polarisations idéologiques à partir d’expériences des différences agissant comme des instances conflictuelles vitales : elles inaugurent des formes de participation fondées sur un besoin de coalitions et de transversalité.De l’analyse des itinéraires corporels, des pratiques et des cartographies des mouvements il ressort que les vecteurs de connexion principaux entre les actrices sociales marquées par la multiplicité sont les généalogies et les origines ainsi que les dimensions de l’in/visible et de la représentation.Cette ethnographie terrona s’inscrit dans une généalogie d’anthropologie postexotique qui se fondant sur une implication autoethnographique de la chercheuse, propose une révision des relations entre les participantes à la recherche, et de l’idée de terrain.Cette thèse relie des expériences de recherche à Paris, à Palerme et à Vérone, respectivement dans le Sud et dans le Nord-est de l’Italie, et thématise les formes de compétition culturelle et les représentations du Sud et du Nord italiens par une perspective postcoloniale
This thesis explores the current reconfiguration of feminism in Italy, particularly the practices and self-representations of women who struggle against racism and homophobia from a postcolonial standpoint and with a freely interpreted sense of sexual difference. These women create spaces of resistance that allow the emergence of new political positionalities, which go beyond western categories of ‘lesbian’, ‘feminist’ and ‘migrant’ by re-signifying them in novel ways. These “eccentric subjects” (de Lauretis 1999) work on the separatisms inside social movements, confounding their ideological polarizations by living difference as instances of vital conflict. They thus open up forms of participation based on the need for transversality. The analysis of the activists’ bodily itineraries and of the movements’ practices and cartographies shows that two main elements of connection exist between these women, who are characterized by multiplicity: on the one hand, their genealogies and origins; on the other, the dimensions of visibility, invisibility and representation.This terrona ethnography draws on a post-exotic anthropological tradition predicated on the researcher’s auto-ethnographic implication, and on a revision of the relation between research participants and the notion of the field. The thesis connects experiences in Paris, Palermo (southern Italy) and Verona (northeast Italy), problematizing forms of cultural competition and the representation of (different parts of) Italy from a postcolonial perspective

This thesis analyses the role played by the translation process in the diffusion of some North American radical feminist concepts in Italy and, in particular, focuses on Donne è bello, a volume which has been selected as a case study because of the particularly important role it played within the Italian feminist movement and also because of the particular circumstances of its creation. The introduction (chapter one) states the research questions and briefly explains the reasons that led to the focus on this specific volume. Chapter two focuses on the methodology adopted, which was inspired by Toury's descriptive translation analysis but was also adapted to the needs and characteristics of this research. Chapter three provides some basic historical information regarding the Italian and North American feminist movements. Particular attention is devoted to the second wave of feminism in both countries and to the characteristics that they had in common. Subsequently, chapter four focuses on the Anabasi movement and on the volume Donne è bello, which constitutes the focus of this research. This chapter also provides some unpublished information about the Anabasi collective and about Donne è bello provided by Serena Castaldi, the founder of this group. The second half of this thesis (chapters five, six and seven) concerns the textual analysis of some features of Donne è bello in order to reconstruct the translation process and assess the reception of the translation by Italian readers. In particular, the aspects analysed include the sexual revolution, the role traditionally played by women in society and the practice of consciousness-raising, which had great importance for Italian feminists. Finally, chapter eight summarizes the results of the research and provides answers to the research questions raised in the introduction.

This research on healthcare strategies of home-based, low-wage, immigrant careworkers contributes to the ways medical anthropology, migration studies and social science understand human-economy-family care relationships and health and carework as commodities in today's global economy. It reveals the consequences for workers as they defray the costs of care for the Italian government and contribute to their home economies. This research was conducted in Genoa, Italy, which has the largest percentage of people over the age of 70 in any city of its size in the world and a tradition of sending and receiving immigrant workers. The main question was: Under the circumstances of providing labor-intensive, in-home supportive services, how do immigrant workers respond to their own health needs? The researcher collected data from interviews with 50 careworkers, 25 professionals who provide services to the careworkers, and 23 administrators in the health system, government agencies, labor unions, and the Catholic Church. The careworkers interviewed were women from South America, as they do most of the carework jobs in this city. Long-term participant observation and interview data were analyzed to: 1) produce empirical data on health concerns of and healthcare resource use by migrant careworkers; and 2) investigate the relationships between health concerns, living/working conditions, and healthcare resource use of transnational immigrants in the informal economy. The data showed that the Catholic Church promoted immigrants as able workers, aided their elderly parishioners, and provided necessary mental health support to careworkers who experienced stress. The data also revealed that the health care system of Italy functioned well to address the physical health concerns of immigrant careworkers. The relationship between the client and the worker was important for the general well-being of the worker and her ability to maintain her general health, have time for medical appointments, socialize outside of the workplace, and attend community events. This study examined: strategies for using health resources; responses of the Italian medical system personnel to anti-immigrant legislation; use of non-State resources to meet health needs; the health consequences of caring for an elderly person in the private home; and ways to address these health consequences.

Cette étude, intitulée « Représentations de l’Occupation et le parcours de l’identité féminine dans Η μητέρα του σκύλου de Pavlos Matessis », examine la collaboration sexuelle de la femme avec l’ennemi au cours de l’Occupation italo-allemande, son châtiment à la Libération et sa protestation envers la punition infligée. L’analyse des techniques narratives combinée à celle du contexte historique permettent d’approfondir les représentations de l’Occupation élaborées par ce roman et cernent la question centrale qui concerne la position tenue par ce dernier face à un événement que l’Histoire officielle a considéré comme secondaire après l’avoir frappé d’une condamnation allant de soi. Il s’ensuit de l’analyse que cette fiction au caractère éminemment dramatique combine de façon unique l’histoire à ses modes d’énonciation narrative. Sa particularité est aussi qu’elle s’éloigne sensiblement de la version officielle des événements et articule un discours différent sur un sujet tabou, celui de la collaboration sexuelle des femmes avec l’ennemi qui a été reliée à la prostitution et à la trahison de la patrie. Il fait de cette collaboration l’occasion de l’éveil de la conscience sociale du sujet et de la composition d’une identité sur la base de la libre disposition de soi et de l’auto-détermination, et considère le châtiment public comme un mécanisme de déstructuration du sujet auquel répond le silence comme forme de protestation. Il s’agit d’une œuvre « à l’écoute » de la révolte contre l’injustice de l’Histoire, qui répond dans le présent à la demande insatisfaite de la réhabilitation du sujet et défend des idéaux humanistes qu’elle place au dessus des idéaux nationaux
The title of the present doctoral research is “Representations of the Occupation and the evolution of female identity in Η μητέρα του σκύλου [The Mother of the dog] by Pavlos Matesis”. This novel revolves around the “erotic” collaboration of a woman with the enemy during the years of the Italian-German Occupation, the public disgrace that she suffered at the wake of Liberation and her protest for the punishment that was inflicted on her. Through a methodology consisting of a narrative analysis in combination with the historical context, I examine the representations of the Occupation that the novel offers in a period that was crucial for Greek history and society, and also the historical fact of the sexual collaboration, which was judged to be of “secondary” significance by official History which filed it as self-evidently condemnable. The conclusion stemming from this research is that the novel, through a fictional narrative with strong dramatic characteristics, combines the story with its narrative ways of expression in a unique way. Its peculiarity, however, lies in its distinctive differentiation from the given facts of the dominant version and in its articulation of a discourse on a taboo subject, for literature as for Historiography, this of the erotic collaboration of women with the enemy, the official evaluation of which connects them with prostitution and national treason. Through this collaboration, which stands as a pretext for the awakening of the subject’s social conscience and the constitution of an identity on the basis of self-determination and self-designation, it sees punishment as a deconstruction mechanism of the subject but also silence as a reaction to the former. Η Μητέρα του σκύλου is a book that “listens” to the protest for the historical injustice, brings forward to the present the unfulfilled request for the subject’s moral restoration and supports the humanistic ideals, putting them above the national ones

Este texto analisa o processo de educação feminina, em Sergipe, nas primeiras décadas do século XX, a partir de uma abordagem histórico-sociológica. Trata das trajetórias de escolarização e inserção no mercado de trabalho de três sergipanas, Quintina Diniz de Oliveira Ribeiro (1878-1942), Itala Silva de Oliveira (1897-1984) e Maria Rita Soares de Andrade (1904-1998), evidenciam táticas e estratégias em busca da emancipação feminina e de ocupação, de espaços considerados masculinos, de forma pioneira. Trabalhou-se com as seguintes fontes: relatórios e mensagens oficiais, atas de instituições escolares e de associações intelectuais e educativas, atas da Assembléia Legislativa, a grande imprensa e a imprensa cultural-literária e feminina, teses de concurso e de conclusão de curso, crônicas, cartas e depoimentos orais, entre outros. A visibilidade do engajamento profissional e político dessas três mulheres, nos espaços públicos dentro e fora de Sergipe, contribuíram para a produção de diferentes significados sobre as mulheres escolarizadas. A configuração do campo educacional, na passagem do século XIX para o século XX, possibilitou não somente a diversidade na criação de instituições como também a construção de projetos de escolarização para meninas e jovens sergipanas de diferentes classes sociais. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: This text analysis the process of female education in Sergipe in the first decades ofthe XX ftom a historical-sociological approach. It deals with the schooling and insertion in the job market of three women from Sergipe, Quintina Diniz de Oliveira Ribeiro (1878- 1942), Itala da Silva Oliveira (1897-1984) and Maria Rita Soares de Andrade (1904-1998), evidence tatics and strategies seeking the female and the occupation of spaces regarded as male ones of pioneer shape. The following sources were dealt with: official reports and messages, minutes of schooling institutions and of intelectual and educational associations, minutes of legislative assembly, the press as a whole and the culturalliterary female press, contests thesis, graduation thesis, chronicles, letters and oral reports, and so on. The visibility of the professional and political commitment of these three women, in public spaces within and outside Sergipe, they have contributed to the production of different meanings about schooled women . The configuration of the educational field, in the passage of the XIX to the XX, not only enabled the diversity in the creation of the institutions as well as the construction of projects of schooling for girls and young people of different social classes.

Defence Date: 07 May 2010
Examining Board: Prof. Donatella della Porta, European University Institute (supervisor); Prof. Peter Wagner, Università degli Studi di Trento; Prof. Bianca Beccalli, Università Statale di Milano; Prof. Karen Beckwith, Case Western Reserve University
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
Although beginning from the more general question 'What has happened to the women’s movement?', the more precise research questions this thesis addresses are: 'how and why do feminist organisations style their organisations in the way they do?', and 'what are the dynamics that guide organisational transformation and change?'. In order to answer these questions, the thesis relies on the theoretical tools provided by social movement research. More specifically, it refers to the emerging branch of literature called the 'cognate area', in which concepts borrowed from traditional approaches to social movements are revisited and combined in order to take into account the effects of cultural and structural, interpretative and material factors in triggering, shaping and transforming mobilization. Such an approach was chosen because it allows the researcher to better consider the great variety of organisational forms which marks women’s movement organisations which has in turn, in some respects, made it an 'awkward' movement to study for scholars of social movements. Methodologically, the thesis takes a comparative approach to investigating the trajectory of the women’s movement in two countries: Germany and Italy. Considering that feminist activism is traditionally rooted at the local level, the empirical research focuses, through the triangulation of interviews, participant observation and document analysis, on two urban contexts: Berlin and Milan. The thesis recognizes the great importance of past organisational experiences for WMOs. Accordingly, following two chapters dedicated respectively to theoretical approaches and the definition of the women’s movement and WMOs, as well as methodology, the third chapter of the thesis describes in detail the path of WMOs in the two cities - from the 1960s until 2000. The final part of the chapter highlights historical similarities and differences. Finally, the last two chapters and the conclusions focus on the empirical research, showing how different political opportunity structures, traditions of mobilization, organizational repertoires, material opportunities and ideological legacies all concurred in shaping different 'multiorganisational fields' on women's issues and thus different organisational choices for single WMOs. The greater dependence of Berlin WMOs on public funding, their greater degree of professionalization and formalization, as well as their greater isolation from potential political allies are all factors that largely influence their goals and functioning. In Milan organizations are conditioned by a lower level of professionalization, relative financial independence, the presence of double militants who act as bridges with other political organisations in the broader area of the Left, and by a greater reliance on (different) feminist theoretical approaches in choosing and organizing goals and activities.

Abstract italiano: La presenza crescente di donne migranti e appartenenti a minoranze etniche nei paesi occidentali pone una serie di sfide alle teorie e pratiche femministe. Le donne migranti ci aiutano a considerare come il genere non sia l’unico elemento attraverso cui analizzare la discriminazione delle donne. Questa necessità emerge con forza dalla critica al concetto di “sorellanza globale” operata dal femminismo postcoloniale. Tale critica genera una domanda fondamentale rispetto al se, come e in che misura sia possible costruire un progetto politico comune tra donne diverse principalmente sulla base della ‘razza’, etnia, status legale/cittadinanza, classe ed età. Questa tesi esplora tale domanda nell’ambito delle associazioni interculturali di donne in Italia. La ricerca si concentra sulle sfide legate allo sviluppo di pratiche femministe interculturali fondate su un concetto di “solidarietà femminista riflessiva” e analizza la possibilità di realizzare progetti per un impegno politico comune basati sui concetti di solidarietà e dialogo. L’approccio metologico utilizzato si basa su interviste in profondità con donne migranti e Italiane di nascita, nell’ambito delle 6 associazioni interculturali di donne analizzate, e su un’analisi documentaria di testi prodotti dalle stesse organizzazioni. Lo studio mostra come in questo ambito, mentre la costruzione di un progetto politico comune tra donne posizionate in maniera diversa e ineguale viene considerato un obiettivo importante da perseguire, una serie di ostacoli alla sua piena realizzazione sono identificati. In particolare, si esplora il ruolo che le politiche razzializzate svolgono nell’ambito delle pratiche femministe interculturali esaminando come le nozioni di identita’, ‘razza’, diseguaglianza e differenza culturale vengono affrontate nelle associazioni, anche attraverso l’approccio degli studi critici su “l’essere bianco/a”. La contestazione di rigide categorizzazioni delle donne e il riconoscimento della natura ibrida delle culture emergono come elementi utili a contrastare forme di razzismo, ma al tempo stesso possono anche essere utilizzati per nascondere differenze di potere. La ricerca analizza, inoltre, come le relazioni di potere e le pratiche organizzative condizionino la possibilità di ottenere forme di solidarietà femminista riflessiva. Un’attenzione specifica viene dedicata ai modi di contestare discorsi culturali dominanti, in particolare attraverso una comparazione interculturale tra pratiche dannose per le donne e attraverso lo sviluppo di politiche incentrate sul tema del lavoro domestico e di cura sia a livello individuale che statale. Queste emergono come questioni fondamentali al fine di far progredire l’agenda di un impegno femminista interculturale sia a livello associativo che a livello sociale più ampio. Abstract inglese: The increasing presence of women migrants and ethnic minorities in western countries poses a series of challenges to established feminist theories and practices. Migrant women force us to realise that gender cannot be the only ground on which to analyse women’s oppression. This necessity is highlighted in the feminist post-colonial critique of the notion of “global sisterhood”. Such a critique generates fundamental questions about whether, how, and to what extent, it is possible to have a common political project among women positioned differently in particular in terms of ‘race’, ethnicity, legal status/citizenship, class and age. The thesis explores these questions within the specific setting of women’s intercultural associations in Italy. It focuses on the challenges to the development of intercultural feminist practices based on a concept of reflexive solidarity. This research argues for the importance of identifying projects of common political engagement based on concepts of solidarity and dialogue. A mixed methods approach is adopted based on qualitative in-depth interviews with migrant and Italian-born women within six selected intercultural associations in Italy and on a documentary analysis of texts produced by the organisations. This study shows that within these settings, while having a common political engagement among women positioned differently and unequally is recognised as an important aim to pursue, a number of specific challenges and obstacles to its realisation are identified. In particular, it explores the potential role that racialised politics plays in the framework of intercultural feminist practices by investigating how notions of identity, ‘race’, inequality and cultural difference are addressed, taking into account also the approach of critical studies on whiteness. The research reveals that contesting rigid categorisations of women, and recognising the hybrid nature of cultures, may address aspects of racism but may also serve to conceal power differentials. The research further analyses how power relationships and organisational practices affect the possibility of achieving forms of feminist reflexive solidarity. Specific attention is devoted to ways of contesting and challenging dominant cultural discourses, in particular through cross-cultural comparisons of practices harmful to women, and by developing policies that focus on the issue of domestic and care work at both individual and State level. These emerge as crucial issues in order to progress the transformative agenda of feminist intercultural work at both an organisational and a wider societal level.

Defence date: 31 March 2017
Examining Board: Professor Laura Lee Downs (Supervisor EUI); Professor Lucy Riall, EUI; Professor Michelle Zancarini-Fournel, Université Lyon 1; Dr. Maud Bracke, University of Glasgow
Dare una definizione o trovare una collocazione precisa al cosiddetto ‘femminismo sindacale’ è tutto fuorché un’impresa semplice. Come le due citazioni mostrano efficacemente, il suo stesso nome costituisce di per sé un elemento problematico. Il femminismo sindacale, infatti, si sviluppò tra gli anni Settanta ed Ottanta come esito - complesso e nient’affatto ‘risolto’ - all’incrocio tra la critica neofemminista al patriarcato e le lotte operaie che a partire dal decennio precedente avevano tentato di imprimere una svolta in senso progressista ed egualitario ai rapport di produzione tra capitale e lavoro. Le donne che negli anni Settanta si muovevano nello spazio sindacale, come delegate e militanti o semplicemente come lavoratrici, furono profondamente attraversate e coinvolte dalle riflessioni che il neofemminismo internazionale andava allora producendo e scelsero di utilizzarle per risignificare l’esperienza del lavoro dal punto di vista femminile. Il femminismo sindacale costituisce un oggetto di studio affascinante, collocato appunto all’incrocio tra due fenomeni internazionali di indiscussa rilevanza come il movimento delle donne ed il movimento dei lavoratori.

Cette thèse documente, répertorie et analyse les relations entre les femmes auteures en France, en Italie, et entre Françaises et Italiennes, de 1770 à 1840, à partir de l’étude des correspondances et des ouvrages publiés de douze écrivaines (Anne-Marie de Beaufort d’Hautpoul, Sophie Gay, Félicité de Genlis, Marie-Émilie de Montanclos, Constance Pipelet Salm, Germaine de Staël, Teresa Bandettini, Elisabetta Caminer, Carolina Lattanzi, Diodata Saluzzo, Fortunata Sulgher Fantastici et Isabella Teotochi Albrizzi). Au cours d’une période caractérisée par le développement de l’imprimé, par l’importante participation féminine à la querelle des femmes, par le bouleversement politique international issu de la Révolution française et de l’époque napoléonienne, ainsi que par la présence affirmée des auteures, ces dernières font face à une réactivation des attaques contre l’autorat féminin. Dans ce contexte, les relations entre écrivaines illustrent le défi de « l’action commune » conçue dans une optique de défense d’une cause (celle des auteures) avant l’émergence du mouvement féministe. Les écrivaines étant souvent présentées soit comme « sœurs, » soit comme « rivales », notre étude démontre que la nature des relations féminines est infiniment plus complexe dans les faits. D’un côté, les relations entre femmes auteures témoignent d’une certaine cohésion au sein de la communauté : les contacts sont nombreux, celles-ci s’épaulent en temps de crise, construisent des généalogies littéraires féminines, et déconstruisent les discours portant sur la soi-disant « exceptionnalité » et la « rivalité » des femmes de lettres. De l’autre côté, d’importantes divisions traversent leurs réseaux, notamment liées à l’appartenance nationale, aux opinions politiques et au positionnement de chacune dans le milieu littéraire. Outre les divisions sociales et politiques, cette thèse illustre la difficulté éprouvée par les auteures à arrimer leurs intérêts individuels (promotion de leur propre carrière, identités multiples interférant avec l’appartenance de sexe/genre) aux intérêts collectifs (légitimer l’autorat féminin). Ainsi, les écrivaines reconnaissent l’importance de la communauté des femmes auteures, tout en étant confrontées au défi d’en maintenir la cohésion, à une époque où non seulement l’activité littéraire, mais également le contexte culturel et politique, sont en pleine transformation.
This thesis documents, catalogues, and analyses relationships between female authors in France and Italy, and between French women and Italian women, from 1770 to 1840. It results from a study of the correspondence and published works of twelve women authors (Anne-Marie de Beaufort d’Hautpoul, Sophie Gay, Félicité de Genlis, Marie-Émilie de Montanclos, Constance Pipelet Salm, Germaine de Staël, Teresa Bandettini, Elisabetta Caminer, Carolina Lattanzi, Diodata Saluzzo, Fortunata Sulgher Fantastici, and Isabella Teotochi Albrizzi) over the course of a period marked by important developments in print culture, the significant involvement of women in the querelle des femmes, and the increased presence of women authors. These transformations, together with the international political upheaval caused by the French Revolution, saw attacks on female authorship pursued with increased vigour. The relationships between women authors within such a context illustrate the challenges faced in implementing a “common action” aimed at defending a female cause (that of female authors) before the advent of the feminist movement. Often described as either “rivals” or “sisters”, this study demonstrates that the nature of relationships between women in this period was in fact far more complex. On the one hand, the community of female authors examined was marked by a certain degree of cohesion. These writers had wide-ranging networks of contacts, and could rely on each other for support in times of crisis. They constructed female literary genealogies and deconstructed the discourse used by others in reference to their community, particularly that relating to the “exceptionality” of and “rivalry” between women authors. On the other hand, significant differences also ran across the membership of these networks, notably in terms of nationality, political opinions, and the position each woman occupied within literary circles. Over and above these social and political divisions, this thesis illustrates the difficulties women faced in reconciling their individual interests (the advancement of their own careers, the divisive impact of their multiple identities with the cohesion of their sex/gender) with those of the collective (legitimizing female authorship). In short, this study examines the ways in which female authors recognized the importance of their community and faced the challenges of maintaining its cohesion, at a time when not only literary activity, but also the political and cultural context in which it was framed, were undergoing great transformation.

Bibliographic Note Sundal, Kendra. 2013. La Frontière/Il Confine: French and Italian Migration Discourse. 85 pages. Master's thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies. Supervisor doc. PhDr. RNDr. Nikola Hynek, M.A., PgDipRes, PhD Abstract This work analyzes the historical background and discourse on migration in Italy and France, focusing on migration from and through former colonies in North Africa. Drawing on a feminist methodological approach, the work discusses how migrants may be perceived or treated differently based on gender, and how this impacts (or is impacted by) policies. In particular, one illustrative event, the closure of the Franco-Italian border in April 2011, is analyzed more deeply using the theory of domopolitics as introduced by William Walters. By tracing the history and the discourse about migration and integration from colonial times to the present, this event and other recent debates related to Mediterranean migration are contextualized. Key Terms: migration, France, Italy, borders, Arab Spring, domopolitics, feminist methodology, discourse analysis, historical representation

This thesis examines the convergence of neoliberal rhetoric across popular media, academic, and institutional discourses, and draws connections between contemporary women's travel literature and common scripts in study abroad promotion. Finding such narratives to be freighted with ethnocentric constructs and tacit endorsements of market-based globalization, I critique the mainstreaming of neoliberal attitudes that depict travel as a commodity primarily valuable for its role in increasing the worth of U.S. American personhood. I question both the prevailing definitions of "global citizenship" and the ubiquitous claims that study abroad prepares students for "success in the global economy" as ideological signifiers of a higher education system that is increasingly corporatized. Utilizing a postcolonial and transnational feminist theoretical framework, the thesis offers a literary analysis of contemporary women's travel memoirs, examining patterns of narcissism and "othering" in their depictions of cross-cultural encounter, and connects these neoliberal trends to consumerism in higher education, study abroad, and post-second wave feminism. Shared themes in the representation of privileged U.S./Western women abroad and the student-consumer model in higher education bespeak a movement toward individual international engagements that reinforce corporate motives for travel and endorse the commodification of global environments, cultures, and people. In hopes of contesting this paradigm, I argue for the reassertion of a social justice-oriented definition of global citizenship and for educational models that foster self-criticism and the decolonization of knowledge.
Graduation date: 2012