Women and Political Activism in France, 1848-1852 : First Feminists

This book is organized around the personal struggles of ten extraordinary French women activists: Eugenie Niboyet, Eugenie Foa, Suzanne Voilquin, Josephine Bachellery, Pauline Roland, Jeanne Deroin, Elisa Lemonnier, Desiree Gay, Adele Esquiros, and Marie Noemie Constant. Ranging in age from 52 to 20 in 1848, coming from different economic backgrounds, these women share a common quest to be included in the economic and political rights won by the revolt against the July Monarchy. Banding together in the face of exclusion from the right to work guaranteed to all men in February 1848, they write petitions to the Provisional Government, and create the first daily feminist newspaper, “La Voix des femmes.” The newspaper is a forum for their demands: midwives who demand to be paid as civil servants, domestic workers who demand support while unemployed, teachers who demand opportunities for higher education and for higher wages. The right to vote and the right to divorce are debated in the newspaper. Seeking to widen their support, Niboyet and her cohort launch a political club, Le Club de femmes, which is ridiculed in the satiric press. The women activists of 1848 do not withdraw from the public sphere. They form workers’ associations. Deroin and Roland are imprisoned for their activism. All continue to work for women’s rights as teachers, writers, and artists. The women of 1848 inspire successive generations of women to continue their struggle. Laura S. Schor offers readers a reinterpretation of the 1848 revolution in France, as seen through the lives of ten intrepid women who were front-line advocates of legal rights, economic justice, and citizenship for French women. Her portraits are engaging, thoughtful, and beautifully written. Schor provides new insights into the possibilities for womens activism in a time of revolution on behalf of democratic government. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in past and present struggles for truly inclusive democracy. - Karen Offen,Stanford University, USA Decades before the words "feminism" and "feminist" came into use in France and other western countries there were women boldly asserting that women were fully the equals of men and thus contending that women deserved more education and employment opportunities, and even political rights. Drawing on archival and published sources, Laura S. Schor ably presents a group of ten pioneering women who made the case for women's rights during the 1830s and, notably, during the French revolution of 1848, when King Louis-Philippe was ousted and replaced by a democratic republic, albeit one that proved short-lived. - Linda L. Clark, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, USA This book is organized around the personal struggles of ten extraordinary French women activists: Eugenie Niboyet, Eugenie Foa, Suzanne Voilquin, Josephine Bachellery, Pauline Roland, Jeanne Deroin, Elisa Lemonnier, Desiree Gay, Adele Esquiros, and Marie Noemie Constant. Ranging in age from 52 to 20 in 1848, coming from different economic backgrounds, these women shared a common quest to be included in the economic and political rights won by the revolt against the July Monarchy. Banding together in the face of exclusion from the right to work guaranteed to all men in February 1848, the women of 1848 inspired successive generations of women to continue their struggle. Laura S. Schor is Professor of History at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, USA Chronology of Women and Political Activism in Paris: 1848–1852 6 Acknowledgments 11 Contents 14 About the Author 16 List of Figures 17 Chapter 1: Introduction: First Feminists 18 Chapter 2: Different Paths to 1848 34 Gathering of the Cohort 34 Shared Concerns in February 1848 78 Chapter 3: Rebels, Images, Petitions 79 The February Revolution 79 Marianne de Lamartine and the Société Maternelle 85 Vésuviennes 87 Women Petition the Provisional Government 100 Letters to the Provisional Government 107 Chapter 4: Developing the Feminist Agenda 111 La Voix des femmes 111 Société de la Voix des femmes 116 The Feminist Agenda of 1848 120 Chapter 5: The Right to Work 141 Women and Paid Labor 141 National Workshops and the Luxembourg Commission 145 National Workshops for Women 152 Midwives and Domestic Workers 165 Fête de la Concorde 167 Chapter 6: The Club des Femmes 172 Political Clubs 172 The Club des Femmes 180 Satiric Images of the Club des Femmes 191 Chapter 7: Revolution, Repression, Resistance 206 La Politique des femmes 206 Women on the Barricades 217 Silencing Women 225 Producer and Consumer Cooperatives 229 Chapter 8: Women Reclaim Public Roles 237 The Constitution of the Second Republic 237 Banquets 240 L’Opinion des femmes 244 Jeanne Deroin: Candidate for the National Assembly 250 The Fraternal Association of Male and Female Teachers and Professors 260 Union of Workers’ Associations 263 The Trial and Imprisonment of Jeanne Deroin and Pauline Roland 264 Chapter 9: After the Coup d’Etat 271 Coup d’état 271 Chapter 10: Conclusion: Legacy of the First Feminists 309 Works Cited 319 Archival Sources 319 Periodical Sources 319 For Women Readers 319 For Workers 320 Satiric Press 320 General 320 Books and Articles 320 Index 333