DWF
donnawomanfemme
Roma, Editrice coop. UTOPIA, 1986-

In or out of the/a net , 1999, n. 44

EDITORIAL, In or out of the/a net, pp. 2-8

In some recent issues "DWF" has dealt with the present situation of women's politics in Italy; here the analysis of the political context is accompanied by a reflection on the transformations the journal itself has undergone over the years and on the need to reconsider once again its function and policy. As a collective political subject, the women on the editorial board investigate the relations within the group as well as the changes which are taking place in the political relations between/among women in the Italian context. The creation of several feminist networks operating through Internet is also taken into account. In a situation of generalised and dramatic changes - cultural, political, technological - "DWF" wants to try once more to "move the borders" of the interpretation of reality, individuating and naming the new problems and the new challenges which feminism must face.

BOTTI Caterina - GIARDINI Federica, A dialogue, pp. 9-19

Two "young" feminist philosophers answer to the questions raised by the Editorial. The main conclusion concerns the strength women's thought still has, even though new conceptual and political tools are required by historical changes.

BIONDI Annalisa - TATAFIORE Roberta, Check mate, pp. 20-25

Biondi interviews Tatafiore. What is feminism's legacy for the third millennium? Can the culture and politics of feminism adequately face the challenge of the ongoing political and social reorganisation and the ideology which is behind it? In a context totally different from those in which the feminism of the 60's was born and its political practices then lived on, the answer given by Tatafiore is clear: feminism is over and there is no legacy to fight for or to bet upon. Thirty years of feminism have given birth to a new female liberty, in a situation now dominated by open market and free trade ideas; they have permitted the creation of relations between/ among women in very different fields and with different modalities, both affective and utilitarian. In a "globalised" society, there is a diffused expectation that women can say something new and of great importance in and for politics. But such an idea relies upon a supposed moral superiority, not upon a real fruitfulness of political relations between/among women. According to Tatafiore these three elements are only apparently related to the original feminist separatism, because in fact they are not able to elaborate a critique of the socio-symbolic system, nor are they able to settle or to interpret the crisis in the relationship between the sexes due to the end of patriarchy.

SBORGI Ilaria B., "Webbing" feminists, pp. 26-30

This article addresses the changes within women's politics, the different places and/or premises from which such politics are currently developed, by analysing the use of internet in the formation and growth of two networks - "Next GENDERation and 30 something" - which focus upon women's and gender studies from a generational point of view. The article aims to show how being "born and bred" on the net confronts the two networks with the complexity of rethinking and elaborating their political projects in relations to the form of communication they are using. Finally, it argues that although such networks have seemed, so far, to privilege action over reflection about their political aims, they can be also seen as a laboratory in which new forms and potentials for women's politics are experimented, and hopefully developed.

CACIOLI Patrizia - GIARDINI Federica - FRAIRE Manuela, The letter A of a still unknown alphabet, pp. 31-40

Cacioli and Giardini interview Fraire. The actual crisis of women's initiatives has to be related to the denial of two important issues: 1) the obstacles found in transmitting power from woman to woman, 2) the scarce capacity of dealing with conflict among women, which are two requirements for the growth of the political relationship among them.

CACIOLI Patrizia - MASI Paola, Change of Season, pp. 41-46

During the last summer, a debate on the lasting under-representation of women in politics and in the academy took place in some Italian newspapers. The authors analyse the main contributions to the discussion and outline the contents of the controversy. Despite the differences, it is possible to retrace at least two common elements. First, each proposal originates from a concrete network of relations among women, not from a think-tank or a political party. Second, the likeliness of the end of women's patience in bearing a systematic disadvantage in public life is underlined. On this last point, the authors propose to go further into the analysis of single cases of conflict and of individual strategies to salve them, instead of rushing into governmental agenda.

CHIURLOTTO Vania, "Libiam ne' lieti calici…", pp. 47-49

Playing with the words of several arias from Verdi's La Traviata, the author explains her decision to leave the editorial board of "DWF" also in relation to the need to reconsider the function and policy of the journal.

FATTORINI Emma - GIAMPIETRO Luisa, A cumbersome father: the Udi and the Pci in the 50's, pp. 50-68

In this section of the journal an established feminist scholar introduces a younger scholar; in this issue historian Emma Fattorini introduces Giampietro's dissertation, partly published here. Giampietro carried out a research in the archives of the Italian Communist Party in order to analyse the developments in the relationship between this political party and the Udi (Italian Women's Association), especially with regard to women's work. "The Udi soon finds itself in a border area between an idea of politics as the people's fight for a new democracy, and its need for a different space" and new female models, in a difficult search for an autonomous theoretical dimension.

PIRRI Ambra, In spite of feminism, pp. 69-80

Following the publication of Teresa de Lauretis' Soggetti Eccentrici, a meeting with the author was held at the Women's Bookshop in Rome, organised in collaboration with the Women's Study Centre donnawomanfemme. Ambra Pirri introduced the meeting with a discussion, published here, of the main recurring themes in de Lauretis's research.

SAPEGNO Maria Serena, Pratica dell'inconscio, pp. 81-84

Reconsidering at a long distance the meaning and the passions of a very strong political experience like the "pratica dell'inconscio", the author tries to focus the main problems and contradictions involved in that practice. She then points out the main issues raised then by the political use of psychoanalysis in the feminist movement and comments upon the relative failure in giving answers to some of the most important questions.