Female Activism and Christian Democratic Parties in Europe

The presence and participation of women in European Christian Democratic parties is one of the most important and radical changes of the past fifty years. After World War II, the acquisition of full voting rights for European women initiated a slow process of acknowledgement of their role in politics: not only as a reservoirs and collectors of votes but also as driving forces. Though many comparative studies have been written on the history of Christian Democratic organisations in Europe since the early 1990s, the female perspective and role in these histories has been addressed only marginally.

Female Activism and Christian Democratic Parties in Europe traces the history of Christian Democratic women in Italy, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany from the end of World War II to the early 1990s, and investigates the participation of women in institutions and in political life. By using a gender perspective this volume embarks on a new chapter in the history of Christian Democratic organisations. It sheds light on figures, movements, associations, and experiences, and brings together gender and political history. The volume addresses not only the presence and position of women in Christian Democratic European parties, but also their activism in relation to the development of ideology, party programs, and female Christian Democratic movements.