International Women's Year and women's activism

This paper provides a comparative study of the impact of the 1975 International Women’s Year (IWY) on women’s activism in two non-democratic European countries: Spain and Poland. Intended by the United Nations (UN) to advance women’s rights globally, the effects of IWY were significantly influenced by national contexts. In Spain, activities relating to IWY unfolded in two interconnected spheres: the official arena controlled by the authorised Francoist women’s organisation, and the unofficial, where legal and illegal activists came together to combine a feminist agenda with anti-Francoist activity. At both levels, transnational and international relations were established or further developed during IWY. In Poland, celebrations were dominated by state-approved women’s organisations to a far greater extent, although diverse initiatives did develop on the margins, providing a space for critical debate on gender equality. However, IWY neither provided a trigger for grassroots women’s activism in Poland, nor significantly secured women’s issues on the anti-regime agenda

Democracy · Gender equality · Grassroots · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Law