Abstract: This research project focuses on the activities carried out between the 1960s and 1990s by numerous Spanish women, both as promoters and recipients of international solidarity, as well as by women of other nationalities who participated in solidarity efforts with anti-Franco movements or in relation to Spain. Drawing on a historiographical analysis in dialogue with contributions from Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Science, this proposal aims to enrich our understanding of the second half of the 20th century through two interpretative frameworks: women's and gender history, and transnational history.

We are interested in reflecting on the scope of women's transnational activism related to solidarity and its contribution to the delegitimisation of dictatorships, the consolidation of democracy or internationalist political projects, and the spread of attitudes favourable to human rights and egalitarian values. This transnational activism was carried out particularly by civil society, but also by institutions, and developed formal and informal ties both among individuals and between women’s and mixed organisations. We will ask how these encounters and disagreements helped build a transnational community with a shared identity in which gender identities played a fundamental role, and whether the relationships between its members went beyond the traditional active/passive dichotomy of solidarity agents and recipients, allowing for multiple exchanges and mutual benefits.

The project is structured in two phases: first, the 1960s and 1970s, a global context marked by the rise of human rights, to reflect on solidarity against dictatorships, wars, and racism, where those persecuted in Franco’s Spain played a leading role, along with people from other geographical areas. Second, the period between the 1980s and 1990s, a time of democratic consolidation in Spain and the rise of dictatorships in other regions, in which we examine various solidarity and international cooperation initiatives undertaken by Spaniards—especially with the Sahara and Latin America; solidarity networks among different European and American feminist movements; as well as the mutual support between political projects and ONGs.

Timetable: September 2024 - August 2027

Team: Mónica Moreno (coord.), Ana Sofia Ferreira; Maria Rosario Ruiz Franco; Laura Branciforte Mazzola; Eva Espinar Ruiz; Maria de La Paz Pando Ballesteros; Bárbara Ortuño Martínez; Mónica Pérez; Miguel Díaz;  Fátima Martínez; Alejandra Oberti; Victor Strazzeri; Karine Bergès; Carlos Ordás Garcia; Pilar Dominguez Prats