French women's civil society activism

Abstract

This dissertation examines how French women's civil society organizations participated in the imperial project, both in the colonies and metropole, and how the empire influenced their discourse and activities. A chronological analysis from 1897 through World War II positions three women's civil society organizations-the French Women's Colonial Emigration Society (SFEF; Société française d'émigration des femmes), the Civic and Social Women's Union (UFCS; Union féminine civique et sociale), and the Union for French Women's Suffrage (UFSF; Union française pour le suffrage des femmes)-within French imperial history, specifically the French-controlled territories in the colonial Maghreb. Exploring these three groups' activities and rhetoric within the French empire demonstrates that women's civil society groups' endeavors were not merely confined to metropolitan France but included appeals to settler colonial and indigenous women in the colonies. This dissertation thus illuminates dimensions of civil society organizations in Third Republic France that have often been ignored.--Author's abstract