DWF
donnawomanfemme
Roma, Editrice coop. UTOPIA, 1986-

Meaningful and clearly defined projects, 1993, n. 20

EDITORIAL, Meaningful and clearly defined projects, pp. 2-4

Confronted with the economic, social and political crisis of our country, we have contradictory feelings: we are troubled and confused but somehow also relieved. More than ever, we think that it is essential to keep close to one's lived experience, without letting oneself be paralysed by the complexity of the situation: working, as many women do, for meaningful and clearly defined projects. That is to say, projects rooted in one's own life and capable, while opening up a wide perspective of change, of keeping together means and ends, the subject and the purpose of action.

MASI Paola, "Partire da sé": observations on complexity, rules, political action, pp. 5-9

A critique of a concept of complexity which becomes an alibi for resistance to change, or an obstacle in the way of those who do want to change a given situation. With reference to the history of this concept within the feminist movement, the author argues that a different idea of complexity can be gauged from the lived experience of (many) women; such as to encourage clearly defined projects and produce real changes.

PIVA Paola, The "mosche bianche", Rome: a group of women for a friendly administration, pp. 10-27

A group of women in Rome, all of them working in the public administration, look at the usual bureaucratic manner of facing problems as opposed to practical professional behaviours which prioritise the citizens' needs. Piva tells about the experiences of these women, whose aim is fostering and immediately putting into practice new approaches and behaviours, but also creating a flexible and feasible model for the whole administration.

BONO Paola, Leaving the happy island, pp. 28-32

Once again, also in relation to the present situation of crisis and (hopefully) renewal of Italian society, there is much talk about the state of the University. Appeals and proposals have been appearing in newspapers and journals, often put forward by prestigious names of Italian culture. Expressing her disillusionment with, and lack of trust in, comprehensive plans of reform, the author explains why she is on the contrary attracted by a proposal such as the one recently discussed in a national meeting of professors, lecturers and students; instead of asking for new rules at a legislative level, the lever of change is here personal responsibility.

COLLIN Françoise, Birth Time, pp. 33-48

This essay originally appeared in "Les Cahiers du Grif" n. 30, 1985; translating and publishing it now is a choice dictated by the conviction that it can help analyse the present crisis of the Western world, and more particularly of Italian society. Collin addresses the crisis of the industrial ideology of work, with its attendant division between work-time and leisure-time; she makes uses of some fundamental categories of Hannah Arendt's thought and invites women to rethink the problem of gender relations. "We must face the old problem with the new data. Data which offer an opportunity for a solution of the old problem".

PUTINO Angela, The spirit of the assembly, pp. 49-54

Philosopher Angela Putino explains here why Themis has been chosen to name this new section of the journal (which she will be editing in collaboration with Giovanna Borrello and Valeria Frescura). She puts forward an interpretation of the myth of Themis, who personifies the order of things as they are regulated by laws, usage and justice. It is well known that in the Greek polis women were denied participation to the public assemblies, where only male adults were admitted. But the myth of Themis, the goddess who presides the assemblies, can suggest that there was in Greek thought some awareness of a female order.

GENTILI Elena, A change of meaning. Nicole Brossard's "La lettre aérienne", pp. 55-68 (edited by Simonetta Spinelli)

A member of DWF's editorial board, Elena Gentili died a few months ago; publishing the text of a talk she gave in 1991 (within a series of meetings organised by the Centro "Alma Sabatini") is a way of remembering her, sharing with our readers the memory of her intelligence and sensitivity. "Any woman knows how to read Brossard", said Gentili, "provided that she remembers that she is a woman"; for the change and dislocation of meaning, which is at the core of Brossard's writing, is a collective invention of women who have moved away from a reality which deprived them of meaning. Gentili's analysis of Brossard's work takes into consideration the very conception of writing and literature which it entails, also addressing Brossard's idea of "lesbian genius".

Debate [The decline of the subject and the rise of female subjectivity], pp. 69-90

In April 1993 the cultural association "Il filo di Arianna" organised a seminar in Verona with two well known feminist philosophers, Braidotti and Cavarero. The debate published here focuses upon some questions central to their work: such as, the relationship between feminist thought and the contemporary philosophical discussion on the crisis of the subject, or the meaning of new technologies in the coming into being of a female subjectivity.