Feminism, National Identity and European Integration in Modern Spain : Defining a Democracy, 1960-Present / Kathryn L. Mahaney.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mahaney, Kathryn L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Feminism--Political aspects--Spain.

Feminism.

Women--Identity--Spain.

Women.

European Union countries--Economic integration.

European Union countries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (213 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2024.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

This book explores the evolution of Spanish feminism in the context of European feminisms and institutions from the 1960s to recent times. Beginning with Sección Femenina, the official Francoist women's organization, Feminism, National Identity and European Integration in Modern Spain traces the interplay between Spanish women's policy and international policymaking. In some cases, as with the Sección Femenina-championed Law of Political Rights (Ley de Derechos) in 1961, Spanish women's policy at least appeared more progressive than what Western democracies offered - notable at a time when Spain was considered backward. After Franco's death in 1975, Spain's democratic transition seemingly consolidated forward-thinking women's policy with a Constitution that guaranteed equality of the sexes in 1978, and with the creation of a national bureau charged with crafting women's policy, the Instituto de la Mujer (Women's Institute), in 1983. Yet feminists found themselves marginalized in Spanish political decision-making, as Kathryn L. Mahaney argues so successfully in this study. Mahaney reveals that women ultimately influenced domestic policy not by acting within national networks but by leveraging European connections, particularly after Spain joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986. The book shows that Spanish feminists worked through the EEC to gain international approval of policies that had met domestic opposition, and did so by representing them as necessary litmus tests of nations' democratic integrity. Their proposals were shaped by the specific context of Spanish feminism, but also by Spanish debates about what rights democracies should grant women and what equality in a post-fascist nation should encompass. This ground-breaking study explains that, in turn, these processes shaped both Spain's and the European Union's much-prized self-identities as democratic communities.

Contents:

Intro

Halftitle Page

Title Page

Dedication Page

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Female Sentinels of Occident: The Sección Femenina, Women's Rights, and Francoist Spain's Search for International Acceptance in Postwar Western Europe

2 "What we want is for each woman to be her own protagonist": Re-examining the Feminist "Triumphs" of Transition-Era Spain

3 Transnationalizing the Transition and beyond: How Domestic Feminist Conflict and Global Feminist Networks Affected Late Twentieth-Century Spanish Politics

4 Violent Inequalities: Debates on Intimate Partner Violence, Gender Equality, and the Ongoing Struggle to Define Post-Francoist Democratic Spain

5 Conclusions: "La Lucha Continúa", The Struggle Continues

Notes

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Index

Imprint.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781350195141

1350195146

9781350195127

135019512X

9781350195134

1350195138

OCLC:

1423133545