Women and the Reinvention of the Political : Feminism in Italy, 1968-1983

This Is The First In-depth Study Of The Feminist Movement That Swept Italy During The Long 1970s (1968-1983), And One Of The First To Use A Combination Of Oral History Interviews And Newly-released Archive Sources To Analyze The Origins, Themes, Practices And Impacts Of Second-wave Feminism. While Detailing The Local And National Contexts In Which The Movement Operated, It Sees This Movement As Transnationally Connected. Emerging In A Society That Was Both Characterized By Traditional Gender Roles, And A Microcosm Of Radical Political Projects In The Wake Of 1968, The Feminist Movement Was Able To Transform The Lives Of Thousands Of Women, Shape A Transformation Of Gender Identities And Roles, And Provoke Political And Legislative Change. More Strongly Mass-based And Socially Diverse Than Its Counterparts In Other Western Countries At The Time, Its Agenda Encompassed Questions Of Work, Unpaid Care-work, Sexuality, Health, Reproductive Rights, Sexual Violence, Social Justice, And Self-expression. The Case Studies Detailing Feminist Politics In Three Cities (turin, Naples, And Rome) Are Framed In A Wider Analysis Of The Movement's Emergence, Its Transnational Links And Local Specificities, And Its Practices And Discourses. The Book Concludes On A Series Of Hypotheses Regarding The Movement's Longer-term Impacts And Trajectories, Taking It Up To The Berlusconi Era And The Present Day-- Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Contextualising Italian Feminism 2 Women, ‘Wounded Emancipation’ and the Crisis of Patriarchy (1945–68) 3 Feminism of Difference: A New Movement and Politics (1968–83) 4 Sexuality, Reproduction and Self-Help Clinics in Rome 5 Work, or the Question That Never Went Away: Trade Union Feminism in Turin 6 Naples: The Unfinished Revolution 7 Feminism, the End of the First Republic and ‘Berlusconism’ (1980s–1990s) Conclusion Primary Sources Bibliography Index