The Italian feminist movement

Abstract

The Italian feminist movement started in the early 1970s and boomed from 1974 to 1978. Since then it has taken a reverse trend: there is a crisis of militancy. The older feminists have somehow retreated into their own private lives or into cultural activities. A new phase of research and self-analysis has started. The earlier objectives of the movement (implementation and defence of the abortion law, equal opportunities legislation, the struggle against violence) have become part of the patrimony of the traditional organizations of women and of women in lay political parties.