Transnational Women’s Activism in Eurocommunist Politics

The Entangled Cases of Italy and Spain (1974-1982)

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of “Eurocommunism” through the lens of the transnational dialogue between Italian and Spanish communist women activists as Spain transitioned from dictatorship to rebuilding democracy (1974-1982). Eurocommunism emerged in the mid-1970s as a trend of West European communist parties aiming to leverage democratic politics as a strategy of transition to socialism. The paper sheds light on the little-known female protagonists of the phenomenon by reconstructing the exchanges and collaborations between Italian and Spanish communist women on various fronts: from solidarity initiatives in the twilight of the Franco dictatorship to the exchange of political strategies to advance women’s rights in their respective contexts. As such, it provides evidence to the key role of women’s cross-border activism in propelling Eurocommunism in the 1970s. Finally, it highlights that female militants saw the renewal of their parties’ policies on the ‘women’s question’ as integral to the Eurocommunist platform.