Transnational Feminism in Non-English Speaking Europe, C. 1960-1990

This edited collection aims to look beyond established narratives of feminist history, by focusing on non-English speaking European countries. Recent scholarship on the history of the women’s liberation movement in individual countries has enhanced our understanding of the importance of transnational influences in the history of European feminism, and problematised the periodisation of feminisms. Additionally, the translation of feminist practices and texts have received interest during the past years. Despite this work, the United States, and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom, are still the main points of reference in histories of post-war feminism. This book asks what happens to the picture if we place non-English speaking European countries in the centre. Using Lucy Delap’s concept of ‘mosaic feminism’, its contributors emphasise the variety of patterns that women’s feminist organising showed in different cultural contexts despite similarities in their ideological corner stones. Series Editor’s Preface Contents Notes on Contributors Abbreviations for Chapter 5 List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction: Transnational Feminism in Non-English Speaking Europe (1960–1990) The Concept of the “Second Wave” Transnational Feminist Connections Within and Beyond Europe The Content of This Book Part I: Feminist Spaces and Activist Practices Chapter 2: “The ideology developed extempore”: Influences, Ideas, and Activities of the Redstocking Movement in Iceland 1970–1982 Background and Context Initial Phase: Influences, Actions, and Ideological Discourses Consciousness-Raising, Public Opinion, and Major Struggles An Overall Human Rights Movement: Not a Women’s Rights Organisation The Socialist Feminist Turn and Ideological Conflicts Conclusion Chapter 3: The Importance of Going to the Right Meeting: 1970s Swedish Feminists’ International Practice Grupp 8 and the Women’s Movement Grupp 8 and the Socialist Movement Hors champs (Outside the Fields) Conclusions Chapter 4: Transnational Influences: Finnish Feminism Between East and West The 1960s Sex Role Debate in Finland Finnish Feminism in the 1970s Conclusion Chapter 5: Feminist Circulations: Towards a Translocal and Transnational History of the Women’s Health Movement in 1970’s Italy Right to Health and Feminist Self-help: The Movement’s National and International Origins (Late 1960s–1973) Emergence and Making of a Translocal and Transnational Movement (1974–1977) The Witch: An Epistemic Icon Travels, Revolution and Appropriation: The Karman Method in the Italian Battle for “Legal, Free and Safe” Abortion Conclusion Part II: Feminisms in the Media Chapter 6: Recording Now: Dutch Lesbian Cultural Politics in the 1980s A Light Obligation to Cheerfulness Lesbian Pride “Four Ladies Write a Shoddy Book” Sources of Inspiration Diva: National Lesbian Magazine From Role Models to Archives Chapter 7: Women in Print: Transnational Circulation of Idea(l)s from a Dutch Perspective Principles in Practice: Sara and Atalanta Compared Reprints: Translation and the Transnational Flow of Feminist Classics Conclusion Chapter 8: The Portrayal of the Soviet Woman in the Negotiations of Gender Equality and Feminism in Finnish Print Media of the 1960s and 1970s The News Story of Tereshkova’s Space Flight Does Not Disrupt the Male Norm The Disappointment of the Soviet Woman Becomes News Western Feminism Affects the Portrayal of the Soviet Woman Conclusion Part III: Institutional Feminisms Chapter 9: Locally and Globally: Polish Communist Women Activists and Post-War Transnational Emancipation Efforts, and How to Write About Them Today Politically Committed and Professional: The Polish State-Socialist Women’s Movement in the Pages of Nasza Praca Magazine Modern and Competent: Polish Women Journalists at the Helm of Women of the Whole World Magazine Conclusion Chapter 10: Acting for Transnational Women’s Rights (but from East Berlin): The WIDF and the Cold War Is It Possible to Speak of Feminism in the Case of the WIDF? East Berlin as a Place for Transnational Women’s Encounters Designed by the “Eastern Bloc,” but... Not Quite? Defending Global Women’s Rights While Speaking from the East of the Cold War Dividing Line? Conclusion Chapter 11: Independents, Institutionalists, and the International Feminist Fight in Late Twentieth-Century Spain and Europe The “European Panorama,” Internationalising Ambitions, and the Genesis of a Foundational Schism in Transition-Era Spanish Feminism Spanish Feminism’s Transnational Gaze and Deepening Ideological Fracture After the Instituto de la Mujer Conclusions Index