Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Second-wave feminism is internationally known for its choice of refusing any engagement with gender-mixed political organizations, in favor of a deep commitment into women-only collectives. However, some women stubbornly decided to introduce a feminist approach within male-dominated organizations such as the trade unions, interrogating their allegedly neutral but on the contrary deeply gendered nature.
This presentation elucidates the intersection of the categories of gender and class in the struggles conducted by Italian and French women unionists during the crucial turn of ‘the long 1970s’. In both countries a strong tradition of working-class commitment for women’s rights empowerment was, indeed, carried out by the major workers’ organizations; however, the international spring of the second-wave women’s movement questioned the value of this traditional approach and encouraged new critical reflections as well as the development of alternative practices. Through a combination of archival and oral sources, Dr. Anna Frisone explores the experience of so-called ‘trade union feminism’ in a trans-local perspective that focuses on the cities of Paris and Lyon in France and on the ‘industrial triangle’ (Turin, Milan, Genoa) in Italy.
Second-wave feminism is internationally known for its choice of refusing any engagement with gender-mixed political organizations, in favor of a deep commitment into women-only collectives. However, some women stubbornly decided to introduce a feminist approach within male-dominated organizations such as the trade unions, interrogating their allegedly neutral but on the contrary deeply gendered nature.
This presentation elucidates the intersection of the categories of gender and class in the struggles conducted by Italian and French women unionists during the crucial turn of ‘the long 1970s’. In both countries a strong tradition of working-class commitment for women’s rights empowerment was, indeed, carried out by the major workers’ organizations; however, the international spring of the second-wave women’s movement questioned the value of this traditional approach and encouraged new critical reflections as well as the development of alternative practices. Through a combination of archival and oral sources, Dr. Anna Frisone explores the experience of so-called ‘trade union feminism’ in a trans-local perspective that focuses on the cities of Paris and Lyon in France and on the ‘industrial triangle’ (Turin, Milan, Genoa) in Italy.
