The women of the Socialist/Communist Unione Donne Italiane and the lay Catholic Centro Italiano Femminile are the protagonists in this study that examines the relationship between national Italian women’s associations and international women’s movements from 1943, when the associations became active, to 1968, when another generation of activists led women’s movements in a new direction. It shows that Italian women were active political participants during the tumultuous decades of the Cold War by considering their reach and impact in relation to Italian bipolarism and world events. The book pa ... More

The women of the Socialist/Communist Unione Donne Italiane and the lay Catholic Centro Italiano Femminile are the protagonists in this study that examines the relationship between national Italian women’s associations and international women’s movements from 1943, when the associations became active, to 1968, when another generation of activists led women’s movements in a new direction. It shows that Italian women were active political participants during the tumultuous decades of the Cold War by considering their reach and impact in relation to Italian bipolarism and world events. The book pays particular attention to the UDI’s work with the largest international postwar women’s organization, the pro-Soviet Women’s International Democratic Federation, and the CIF’s relationship with the global Catholic organization, the World Movement of Mothers, to better understand the ways in which the Cold War affected both national and international agendas for women’s rights. The Italian case is particularly significant in placing women’s movements in a broader context because it exemplifies many of the political and ideological dichotomies that characterized this period. With the Christian Democrats at the helm of the Italian government and the powerful opposition of the Communists, the Italian women’s associations developed and utilized creative negotiation strategies to advance their visions of womanhood in a new era. They applied similar practices in their international work.