“Auxiliary” Jobs? French Women’s Multiple Entry pathways into Diplomacy, 1900–1947

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since Emily Rosenberg’s call to avoid writing a history focused solely on the careers of exceptional women, publications on the feminisation of international relations have diversified dramatically. This article adopts a broad sociological definition of diplomacy as a socio-professional sphere that is not confined to category A civil service jobs, but that encompasses all the activities involved in the functioning of the diplomatic sphere. It draws upon perspectives opened up by a ‘subaltern’ approach to diplomacy and by the New Consular History. This study challenges the dichotomous approach between the diplomatic professions and the auxiliary professions of diplomacy, conveyed by the taxonomy of administrative sources and by the representations of the diplomatic actors themselves. Without having the title of junior civil advisor, some women abroad or in the central administration have held political responsibilities available to them. Finally, in the case of France, this article confirms the importance of female involvement in the Resistance as a factor of integration for 10 women, and even of career acceleration for the few women already present in the Foreign Ministry before the Second World War.