Women's Activism Research Articles

Italian women workers and women activists between home and factory: the struggle against labour precarity (1950s–1970s)

AbstractFrom a gender historical perspective, labour precarity constitutes a long-term phenomenon. Women's work represents a privileged observatory to understand how instability and precarity also characterised the cycle of economic and industrial expansion of the 1950s and 1960s. The article compares the conditions of female factory workers with those of home-based workers, a traditionally invisible category of workers, who between the 1960s and 1970s promoted demonstrations and protests with the support of trade unions, women's associations and local institutions. Changes in the subjectivity of women workers and homeworkers, whose demands often came together and gave rise to joint protests, not only became part of broader discussions on the relationship between industrial crisis and precariousness, but also generated discourses on specific forms of work that are now central to debates on flexible/precarious work such as part-time work.

Forum theatre practice as lived activism

This article seeks to show that activism for racialised, black and migrant women stems from their embodied lived experiences and the need for creating practices and spaces for these to manifest, be validated and expand on. Forum Theatre practice that includes the racialised body, collective reflection and reparative action can address the neo-colonial and patriarchal encounters, and places of oppression within mainstream activism. This article was discussed, written, and based on the workshops and reflexive conversations regarding the racialised women's experiences of the hostile environment policies. It reflects on the necessity to address and combat these policies through empowering the mind, body and spirit of the women activists in North East of England, part of an AHRC funded knowledge transfer project of using arts based interventions for civic engagement.

Women, Workers, and Women Workers: Connections and Tensions in Transnational Activism

AbstractDaniel Laqua's Activism across Borders since 1870 is an impressive contribution to scholarly research on transnational activism. It provides a detailed and innovative study of the connections but also the divisions between individuals, groups, and organizations. Laqua's approach and analysis interrogate the connectedness, transience, ambivalence, and marginality of transnational activism. He explores the complex relationship of campaigners, campaigns, and causes that crossed national boundaries, building a rich analysis of these interactions.This contribution engages with Activism across Borders with a particular emphasis on women, workers, and women workers. This perspective offers an analysis at the intersection of women's history and labour history. Among the themes considered are: campaigns that forged partnerships and amplified voices; women's transnational activism and national borders; and the divisions and differences among activists campaigning to improve working conditions.

Navigating in Insecure Territory: Attitudes among Islamic Movement Female Activists toward the Israeli Authorities and Culture

This article deals with female activists of the Islamic movement in Israel and their attitudes toward the Israeli authorities and culture. It looks at the complex Muslim existence in Israel, leading to such questions as: What is their opinion about the Israeli space and how do they live as Muslims in a non-Islamic space? And what strategies do they use to bridge the gap between their religious and civic identities? The article presents three main positions of the women activists in relation to the Israeli space: the majority who want to integrate into Israeli society, the minority who reject Israeli society and want to seclude themselves in a community of an Islamic nature, and a group which takes the humanistic position where the emphasis is on the person and not their religious identity, i.e., they prefer not to emphasize their religious identity in the Israeli space, partly because they fear expressing criticism towards Israeli society, assuming that it will lead to persecution and conflicts. Female Muslim activists give a religious interpretation and act according to Fiqh al-waqi’a (a religious interpretation according to the understanding of reality) in a subjective, personal way, without any top-down guidance from the (male) leaders of the movement.

‘Work locally but think globally’: The Alliance Against Women's Oppression and transnational multiracial grassroots activism in the 1980s

AbstractThis article examines the transnational history of the Alliance Against Women's Oppression (AAWO), a multiracial and Marxist US women's organisation founded in California in 1979. By focusing on the political connection between the AAWO, the so‐called ‘Third World’ and other international organisations such as the Women International Democratic Federation, the article intends to delve into the relationship between global far‐left, non‐White women's organisations in the United States and the Global South. Using extensive archival sources internal to the organisation, this work highlights the 1980s as a central period for anti‐imperialist women's activism against the Reagan administration and for the formation of international grassroots connections.

From the Courts, to the Streets, to the University: Fighting to Save Gender Studies in Pakistan, 2018–2023

Abstract: This article traces the recent growing contestation leveled against the discipline of gender studies in Pakistan. In 2020 a petition was filed in Lahore High Court against the teaching of gender studies in higher education institutions across Pakistan that should be seen as part of the national backlash initiated against feminist struggles/movements in Pakistan. Documenting the narratives of five founding heads of WGS departments through in-depth interviews, I have analyzed how WGS has not only historically but also in contemporary times encountered challenges at various levels. In addition to those interviews (primary data), I also relied on secondary sources to unearth those contestations against WGS. It is reflected in this research that WGS has journeyed through different phases, encountering antagonism and resistance, and eventually received acceptance as a field of study in a society like Pakistan, which is highly patriarchal. Though it has gained acceptance over the period, the struggle experienced by the practitioners and scholars of WGS has remained constant. They are labeled as anti-culturalists and anti-religious and stereotyped as "Westerners" toeing the Western philosophy being part of WGS. These allegations are augmented by the arguments around the scope and marketability of WGS reflecting the systemic realities of the neoliberal economic order, where education is valued on its market and commercial basis. Though the Aurat March of 2018, as theorized by feminist scholars, started the fourth wave of women's rights activism in Pakistan, it faced a huge backlash from the state and society alike. Since WGS vehemently supports women and gender rights activism and movements in general, in Pakistan the backlash was also directed against WGS. It is argued and theorized that the growing contestation and backlash to the Aurat March and WGS in Pakistan should be seen in a global context in recent years where anti-gender discourses (coupled with transphobia) are widely shared and disseminated. This article, therefore, situates these challenges faced by WGS within these local and global realities.

Between Charity and Neoliberalism: The Campaign for Funding Women's Refuges in Australia, 1974–1985

Abstract: Australia's first women's refuge was established in 1974, marking a crucial outgrowth of women's liberation activism that placed domestic violence on the public agenda. To maintain refuges, feminists seized opportunities presented by the progressive Gough Whitlam Labor government. This convergence between a reforming government and the women's movement meant that Australian feminist refuges were among the first in the world to receive state support, in 1975. Maintaining this support required feminist activists to engage with the Australian state. They framed their claims in two ways: they foregrounded women's traumatic narratives of experiences of domestic violence, and they asserted that refuges were a distinctive feminist service. Adapting to a constantly changing political context, however, advocates found it difficult to distinguish their activities from charitable refuges. Their emphasis on women's trauma foregrounded a victimized political subject while the movement's emphasis on fostering "self-help" was co-opted by advocates of neoliberal governance.

FROM THE ELIMINATION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE DRAFT BILL TO THE SEXUAL VIOLENCE CRIME : CONFLICT OF IDEOLOGY FEMINIST AND RELIGIOUS IDEOLOGY RELATED TO SEXUAL CONSENT

The Sexual Violence Crime Law (UU TPKS) was passed in 2022. However, the TPKS Law cannot be separated from various incidents, this is also the background for the TPKS Law taking a long time to be ratified. One of the controversial ones is related to the sexual consent paradigm which is often the reason for rejection of the TPKS Bill. This research uses the library study method, namely the author collects data by searching for data and information through books, journals, documents, articles, news and other library sources. The author will collect library data, record and analyze discourse related to sexual consent in the TPKS Bill, both within the DPR and external parties, namely community organizations. The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and several other organizations use religious ideology in rejecting the TPKS Bill, while KUPI, Komnas Perempuan, Gusdurian, and other women's activist groups try to remember the mindset of the initial purpose of the TPKS Bill which was formed in basically departs from feminist ideology.

«Лично я мечтала стать учительницей»: советские автобиографии татарских женщин

The article presents fragments of autobiographies and memoirs of the 1960s, written by activists of the Tatar women's movement of the revolutionary years. Koyash Valitova (born in 1898), Zukhra Baimbetova (1899), Bylbyl Ilyasova (1898), Bibikhatyma Alaberdina (1901), Zeinab Bashirova (1903) worked in schools or were planning to become teachers before the revolution of 1917; during Soviet times, these women were involved in the propaganda and political work. An analysis of fragments of ego-documents showed that Soviet autobiographies of Tatar women have an element of “fight”, clashes with various forces (in the family, society). Intra-family conflicts were a characteristic feature of the ego-documents of Tatar female teachers. Moreover, Soviet representations kept silent about some features of pre-revolutionary Tatar everyday life and emphasized the cultural backwardness of Muslims. A comprehensive analysis allowed us to highlight individual details of pre-revolutionary life and refute the established stereotypes. The author concludes that the use of these documents in scientific research is possible only as a supplement to less biased sources of other types.

The Representation of Gender Inequality in Mulan (2020) Movie

Literary work is one the ways that a person uses to express ideas, thoughts, and feelings in the form of a work that is represented aesthetically. Nowadays, there are many issues regarding gender inequality that occur in society. This is one of the problems for women regarding rights that are not obtained as women. This study discusses the Mulan (2020) movie which was released on 9th March 2020 where the movie shows the reality of life that adheres to a patriarchal ideology in which women are considered weak. This research aims to determine the representation of gender inequality in Mulan (2020) movie which uses descriptive qualitative research method and feminism approach. Gender inequality is shown through 4 indicators, limited opportunities in utilizing resources, limited opportunities to participate in an activity, limited authority in making decisions, and limited recognition in decision making. The representation of gender inequality can be seen through the characters, setting, events, and style. The reason of Niki Caro addressing gender inequality in the Mulan (2020) movie is found in the personal life of the director where the director is an activist for women’s rights.

Better Living by Their Own Bootstraps: Black Women's Activism in Rural Arkansas, 1914–1965, by CherisseJones‐Branch, Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 2021. 227 pp. $29.96 (cloth). ISBN: 9781682261668

Better Living by Their Own Bootstraps: Black Women's Activism in Rural Arkansas, 1914–1965, by CherisseJones‐Branch, Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 2021. 227 pp. $29.96 (cloth). ISBN: 9781682261668

Kashmiri women in conflict: a feminist perspective

Kashmiri women are diverse individuals with a wide range of origins, histories, experiences, and aspirations. Women in Kashmir are deeply entwined with the region’s complicated socio-political landscape, especially in terms of the protracted conflict in Kashmir. The living patterns of women in Kashmir are severely influenced by insurgency, militancy, and the consequent militarization of the region, as well as a wide range of socio-economic, historical, religious, and geopolitical circumstances. Kashmiri women’s day-to-day existence, safety, security, and mobility are strongly impacted by enhanced security protocols and the existence of armed personnel and militants in the region. Even though a great number of research works have been performed on Kashmir’s politics, history, philosophy, and religion, the struggles and challenges faced by women amid the conflict need to be further explored. This research aimed to comprehend and unveil the situation of Kashmiri women in the conflict zone through a comprehensive review of the existing literature on gendered violations in Kashmir, thereby emphasizing the need for the recognition of the suffering of Kashmiri women from a feminist perspective. Furthermore, the contributions of Kashmiri women activists, politicians, and feminists were highlighted, thus accentuating their role towards gender equality and sustainable peace in the region.

Social change strategies of Jewish-Orthodox women activists in Israel

ABSTRACT This study examines Jewish women’s activism in Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox society in Israel. In order to gain an in-depth perspective on their experience and coping in leading change processes in their society, it focuses on strategies and tactics they use in the course of their activism and on what motivates them or constraints their choices. Informed by thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with fourteen activists, the findings indicate that they walk between raindrops, making judicious and carefully planned use of a variety of strategies and tactics, of both consensus and confrontation, to promote their aims. Together with their protest against injustices in their society and attempts to redress them, they observe the norms of the religious world and avoid crossing “red lines,” as they put it. Combined, their complex combination of strict observance of religious and social conventions and their feminist outlook are their way of overcoming obstacles and achieving desirable change. This study sheds light on the phenomenon of women activism in patriarchal societies, and in particular, on how social change can be pursued by women even in extremely traditional societies with strict behavioral norms, in Israel and worldwide.

Ewolucja wzorca kobiety idealnej we Francji belle époque. Przypadek Marguerite Durand i La Fronde

The Evolution of the Model of the Ideal Woman in France of the Belle Époque: the case of Marguerite Durand and La Fronde Although the nineteenth century, in many respects, changed France beyond recognition, with the Civil Code of 1802, it created a legal framework as strong as never before that enclosed women in a world of strictly defined roles and tasks. They were a reflection and legal sanction of the attitudes, understanding of social roles, and necessary attributes allocated to women, that were currently in operation, especially in the bourgeois French society. Any change in them took place extremely slowly, and met with resistance and considerable social reluctance. Suffice it to say, that French women did not gain full civil rights until 1938. Among the activists of women’s movements in France who provoked these changes and actively supported them, promoting new kinds of attitudes and behaviour was Marguerite Durand (1864–1936), feminist, journalist, founder and editor‑in‑chief of the daily (and later monthly) La Fronde, the first newspaper in France run by a woman and employing only women, although it did not only cover women’s issues. La Fronde became an important tribune promoting issues important for women, an advocate of legal changes, but, above all, of changes in the social perception of women, their image, their roles and tasks, their expected and required features, behaviour, and attitudes. And although this change was slow, La Fronde was one of its most important

Aktywność polityczna i kulturalna kobiet w świetle rękopiśmiennej i drukowanej prasy polskiego oświecenia (XVIII w.)

Political and Cultural Activism of Women As Seen in Handwritten and Printed Press in the Polish Enlightenment (Eighteenth Century) The rapid development of the press in the Republic of Poland in the eighteenth century enabled a much more efficient transfer of information. During the Enlightenment, the Polish press market was graced by a number of magazines the editors of which were guided by the goals of reforming, moralizing, and promoting scientific knowledge. At the same time, the old Polish social communication system based on the creation and sending of handwritten newspapers to recipients was still in operation. In various press outlets in the Republic of Poland in the second half of the eighteenth century, one can also find an ever‑growing amount of information devoted to women. In addition to pedagogical issues that were discussed in the Enlightenment, i.e., the upbringing and education of girls, information about women’s activities, which were diverse in their nature, spread more and more widely. Both in printed and handwritten newspapers, one can, above all, read about the achievements of women in the fields of politics and culture. Although Polish women in the eighteenth century had limited opportunities to act in politics and culture, resulting from the specificity of the Polish state system and from the dominance of men, their important role in these areas was often highlighted in the press. Press advertisements also allow us to conclude that literary works written by women could take root in social consciousness thanks to newspaper advertising.

“Honor” killings and customary laws: A case study of Khap Panchayats in Haryana, India

This paper examines the resilience of feudal customary councils and their links with modern local state agencies in perpetuating crimes of “honor” in the State of Haryana, India. This peculiar dynamic has been approached by tapping the experiences and direct involvement of women activists and third sector organizations. The paper asks questions that help move beyond popular polarizations constructed between the Indian State and customary caste councils by revealing their complex interface. These women’s organizations interviewed, engage in an “anthropology of state,” dissociating the state as a formal technical entity from its actual functioning. Their feminist paradigms encourage new conceptualizations of a “weak patriarchal” state. This notion draws attention to the subversion of state rules by patriarchal cultural inclinations of state agents who together join forces in complex ways with community/caste councils or Khap Panchayats in exacerbating violence against women.

Gender and machine politics in Chicago, USA

This article investigates gender and political machines, specifically exploring women's activism and roles within Chicago's unique political tapestry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Whereas extant literature investigates the racial, ethnic, and class dimensions of machine politics, a gap subsists regarding a direct exploration of gender dynamics – especially during and following the Richard J. Daley administration. The research unveils how women have navigated, contested, and shaped Chicago society and politics amid the tides of reform-minded ideals and an emergent, formidable machine. Despite achieving remarkable strides during the Progressive Era, the Cook County machine paradoxically shaped women's participation and activism while eroding progress. The insights garnered from this analysis do not remain an anachronism of history but resound with relevance for contemporary politics, revealing challenges and providing the groundwork for further explorations aimed at deconstructing gendered power within political structures.

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES THROUGH ARRANGEMENT OF CANDIDATE LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS IN BANYUMAS REGENCY

This paper will explain the institutionalization of political parties through the policy of structuring the Gerindra Party legislative candidates in the 2019 legislative elections in Banyumas Regency. The Banyumas Regency Gerindra Party was chosen as the research locus with the consideration that the Gerindra Party's vote acquisition in the 2019 election was very significant as a newcomer party. The method used in this research is a case study with a purposive sampling technique. Data collected by documentation studies, interviews, and observations. Research informants included DPC Gerindra Party officials in Banyumas Regency and legislative candidates who failed or succeeded in the 2019 legislative elections. The data were analyzed interactively and validated through source triangulation. The results of this study, first; the arrangement of legislative candidates in the 2019 election was carried out by the Gerindra Party with a local wisdom approach as a strategy to avoid 'party elite bias' so that the candidates proposed were candidates with high electability and community support. Target cadres include women activists, cadres of NU, Muhammadiyah, Al Ersyad organizations, village heads and community leaders and are placed in the constituency where they live. With this strategy of structuring cadres based on local wisdom, the Gerindra Party can choose potential cadres who have the support of a stronger mass base. So that the Gerindra Party's seat acquisition can be stable to this day..

The role of women’s political activism against enforced disappearances in Balochistan: a study of the Baluch missing persons

ABSTRACT The article attempts to highlight the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan and in particular the Baloch population. The focus is on blood relatives and specifically mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and other close female relatives of forcibly disappeared persons. The Baloch women are at the forefront of the struggle against these enforced disappearances. They are experiencing hardships in seeking justice for the victims and continue to search for the whereabouts of their forcibly disappeared loved ones. The politically motivated women activists have initiated a collective struggle for the safe recovery of the disappeared victims. The families created an organization by the name of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) in 2009, which provides the families legal, political, human rights, and emotional support with a strong aspiration to bring justice to the aggrieved families. The data were obtained using an ethnographic method of participant observation, interviews, and conversations with VBMP members, families, and especially female family members of the enforced disappeared victims. The article concluded by saying that, the Baloch women’s activism and resistance have opened a new horizon for the participation of victims’ relatives in a patriarchal society. The Baloch women have strived hard to bring back their loved ones, thus adding a new dimension to the ethnolinguistic politics and recognition in the age of state project of homogenization and suppression.

Maternalism and new imperialism in Russia: “good mothers” for a militarizing state—expectations, implications, and resistances

This article explores maternalism in Russia in the context of the contemporary Russian authoritarian state. In particular, I analyze what implications maternalism has for women, mothers, and families on the one hand and how it is connected to the Russian state's new imperial ambitions on the other. I also explore how maternalism is challenged and employed by those resisting state politics, including militarism. Historically, maternalism was used for the analysis of the development of the welfare state in Europe and beyond and for studying women's activism that contributed to significant changes in the state's welfare politics. Maternalism in European history could be seen as “a progressive heterosexual maternal womanhood”; according to Mary Daly, it could be explained as a recognition of the “existence of a uniquely feminine value system based on care and nurturing” and as the assumption that women are performing “a service to the state by raising citizen-workers”. Gender historians of Latin America showed that speaking from the position of a mother was quite important for claiming both the right to be accepted as an equal citizen and the improvement of maternity care, welfare, and living conditions for mothers and children. Furthermore, maternalism was widely used in protests against state militarism, wars, and military dictatorships, not least as a part of the campaign against the Vietnam War or the crimes of the Argentinian military dictatorship. However, maternalism was also widely used by several totalitarian regimes, including fascism and Stalinism. Maternalism was an important political instrument used by the state socialist discourse in order to show the superiority of the “socialist” welfare system over the “capitalist” one and to make this system appear attractive to women from “developing” countries.