Contemporary Western European Feminism

by Kaplan, Gisela T.

• ISBN13: 9780814746226
• ISBN10: 0814746225
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-03-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

"[A]n exciting, theoretically sophisticated and excellently documented contribution to feminist literature . . . . a timely case study of the feminisms that have emerged in response to national, ethnic, class-based, and international pressures throughout Western Europe . . . . politically astute and methodologically impeccable . . . . The scope is clearly stated; the goods promised are all delivered; the author's awesome linguistic skills have allowed for the use of particularly rich source materials not normally available to English speaking readers; and the very impressive bibliography allows what is a coherent whole to serve also as a stepping stone to further explorations . . . . a unique contribution to the comparative understanding of social movements. It will be indispensable for women's studies courses and should be read by all feminist theorists." --Jan Branson author ofThe Other HalfThis is a major new history that introduces the reader to the development of feminism as a social and ideological movement in Western Europe during the late twentieth century. The volume begins with an overview of the specific character and evolution of European feminism and continues with a lengthy discussion of the status of women vis-a-vis technology, domestic work, politics, labor, and civil liberty.Kaplan, herself fluent in seven languages, outlines the relevant postwar history of each country--Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland--drawing on numerous primary documents to provide the most comprehensive analysis to date of women's movements in this region of the world. Illustrating the kaleidoscope of European women's movements in their historical and political context, this book is essential reading for: --students of women's studies and activists, as an introduction to European feminism with a vast bibliography for further reading; --social movements scholars for its discussion of the various ways movements in individual countries evolved and for its analysis of different paradigms of action; --theorists and single country specialists for whom the book provides a rich basis for comparison.

Table of Contents

Figures, tables and maps
Abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Western European Women: An Overview
The postwar movements	p. 1
Their character	p. 1
Their significance	p. 5
Why call it the second-wave?	p. 6
Why the new wave movements developed	p. 8
Mass protest	p. 15
The diversity of second-wave feminism	p. 20
Women's status and employment	p. 23
Women in the labour force	p. 25
Women and technology	p. 35
Women and domestic work	p. 38
Women in politics	p. 41
Women and civil liberty	p. 47
Some hypotheses	p. 54
Characteristics of Individual Countries
Progressiveness in Scandinavia	p. 63
Sweden	p. 67
Norway	p. 73
Denmark	p. 78
Finland	p. 83
Iceland	p. 87
The model examined	p. 89
Conservatism in the Germanic countries	p. 103
West Germany	p. 103
Austria	p. 128
Switzerland	p. 138
The model examined	p. 141
Fringe upheavals and creative traditionalism in France and the Netherlands	p. 149
The Netherlands	p. 151
France	p. 161
The model examined	p. 173
Revolutions and radicalism in southern Europe	p. 179
Portugal	p. 180
Spain	p. 191
Greece	p. 210
Italy	p. 229
The model examined	p. 258
Outlook
Into the 1990s	p. 269
The coming Europe	p. 279
Appendix: Feminist research addresses	p. 284
References	p. 285
Alphabetical	p. 285
Cross reference by country	p. 311
Index	p. 333
Names and places index	p. 333
Subject index	p. 335
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.