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The new women's movement—Where have all the women gone? Women and the peace movement in Sweden
WomedsStud~~liu
Fown.
Vol
&No
6.~
6314%
1985
0277~539985s3 ao+.ao (b 1985 Pergamon Press Ltd
Primed m Great Bntun
THE NEW WOMEN’S MOVEMENT-WHERE HAVE ALL THE WOMENGONE? WOMEN AND THE PEACE MOVEMENT IN SWEDEN ABBY
PETERSON
Department of sociology, Umce Unnerslty, S-901 87 UmeB,
Sweden
Synqrsis--The new women’smovementm Swedenhas been mvolved increasingly in Peace ~SSUCS TRis artide asks who these peace campaigners are and where they have come from. Furthermore, what does this change of direction mean for the women’s movement as a whole in Sweden’ What are the motwes behind this new strategy?
The ‘new women’s movement’ in Sweden, as in most western European countries, arose out of the student protest movement of the sixties. The new women’s movement in Sweden was characterized by its organisational form which centered around the consciousness-raising group and by its political direction: ‘the private is political’. In this sense the Swedish version shared a common feminist profile, although it retained its socialist emphasis. As in most western women’s movements of thts period, women’s liberation issues were on the agenda: abortion, the right to work outside the home and an independent source of income, childcare facthties, the right to a ‘female’ sexuality, pornography, etc.. Between 1970 and 1977, the new women’s movement reached its zenith in Sweden. Since then the new women’s movement has declined in strength and influence.1 Many observers have mourned the dtsappearance of the new women’s movement. Where have all the women gone? To answer this question, an analysis of the women’s movement in its broader sense IS needed. The women’s movement is a social movement embedded within the societal relations of patriarchy. As such it must be understood as a dynamic historical process. The new women’s movement was not an isolated or spontaneous social phenomenon. It was one direction of struggle within the women’s movement. In other words, it is argued here that the
1 For a comprehensive descnpbon and analysis of the Swed& new women’s movement see Dahlerup and Gull1 (1983). For a discussion dealing with the ‘decline’ of the new women’s movement m Sweden see Register (1977), Fknsted-Jensen et al , (1977) and Gbransson (19EiO) 631
movement has not ‘disappeared’, it has simply taken on new forms and struggles. In Sweden, the new women’s movement is far from dead; rather, it has directed its struggle towards an engagement against dnect violence. On the one hand, the struggle is directed towards dealing with direct violence in the private sphererape, battered women, child abuse and incest. In Sweden, approximately 80 women’s crisis centers (in the forms of apartments, houses and telephone hotlines) have been established. On the other hand, women have increased their engagement with the peace issue, struggling against the direct public violence sanctioned by the state. (See even BrockUtne, 1981a: 133-146.) In this article, I will focus attention upon this latter struggle What charactertxes this struggle? Who are the wOrnen and where have they come from? Why has the women’s movement directed its struggle withm the peace issue, and what has this engagement contributed to the peace movement? And finally, what has this involvement contributed to the women’s movement THE WOMEN’S MOVBMENT AS A SOCIAL MOVEMENT The women’s movement can be understood as the subjective collective action of women m response to the societal relations of patnarchy. Expressing the contradictions inherent in social relations, we are forced to study the women’s movement as a dynamic htstorical process. The women’s movement is a direction(s) of struggle; thereby tt alludes a concrete determmation of its boundanes, organisattons and instttutions and its followers Although much of the women’s movement’s
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ABBY
PETERSON
politics may be directed towards an ideological cntictsm of soctety, the movement has a matenal basis As a social movement, it receives its impetus from the patnarchal dtvision of labor.2 The patnarchal division of labor has resulted m the division of societal labor between the sexes-men are responsible for the production of commodities and women are responsible for the re-production of the work force and social relations--and in the hierarchal orgamsatlon of production and reproduction, whereas production and the interests of production dominate re-productton and the interests of re-production. I have defined the political expression of the opposing interests generated by the patnarchal divrsion of labor as the gender-sex dtmension (Peterson, 1984.) The gender-sex dimension is an analytical tool by which we can better understand the ObJective opposition of interests between men and women, between groups of women, and between the interests of production and re-production. The gender-sex dimension includes four categones of issues related to: (1) the interests of intergenerational re-producuon (the biological re-production of the species), i.e. the peace issue and ecological issues; (2) the interests of intragenerational re-production (the daily reproduction of the workforce and the re-production of social relattons) m the family, e.g. consumer interests, improved residential environments, etc.; (3) the mterests of intragenerational re-producuon in the public sector, e.g. the quality of socialand healthcare, etc., and (4) the self-interests of re-productton workers (women), i.e. women’s hberation issues; the early new women’s movement’s historical prionty The various elements of the women’s movement are united by a political articulation of one or more of the categones of the gender-sex &mension. The gender-sex dimension expresses the scope of the pohtnzal directions inherent wtthm the social relations of patnarchy. In other words, the gendersex dimension, as a theoretical construction, is a groove catalogue of the politrcal drrections available to the women’s movement within the framework of the ObJective social relations of patriarchy. However, the women’s movement, understood as the subjective expression of one or more of these directions at any given historical moment, is not merely the passive reflection of these ObJective social relations. The women’s movement’s choice of direction, i.e its htstoncal priorities, is an active response to these social relations and thereby defines
* The patnarchal dwision of labor alludes to the sexual dimsIon of labor where women and women’s work 1s subordmate to men and to men’s work
the social relattons of patnarchy. The analysis will attempt to concentrate upon the women’s movement m this active sense. In what way 1s the women’s movement’s present direction of struggle m Sweden-the struggle for the interests of intergenerational re-productron through the articulation of the peace issue-defining the soctal relations of patnarchy. WOMEN AM) THE PEACE ISSUE-THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT ANB THE PEACE MOVEMENT Women’s shared experiences of, and responsibility for, intergenerational re-production, which is generated by the social relations of patriarchy, unite women m a common concern for the future of humanity and for future generations. According to Brock-Utne (1981a: 136), that which characterizes women’s struggle for peace is the concern for other human beings, especially children. In contrast, As (1982: 355) argues that ‘men and women are disposed to feel and believe m different ways towards war because of their different relationships to military acts of destruction, to territories and to the army.’ Women’s anti-militarism and peace involvement is not so much a result of women’s work with re-production; it is a result of women’s exclusion from work with, and responsibility for, commodity production and technology This ‘disconnection’ with production and power has ‘provlded the new women’s movement wrth an anchorage m values which largely protect fundamental human rights.’ (ibid: 363-364). Both perspectives, however, are based upon a materialistic analysis of the social relations of patriarchy. Women’s involvement m the peace struggle is seen to be generated, although m different ways, by the patnarchal division of labor Stephenson (1982) argues that there exists a lmkage between a faction of the women’s movement’s ideology and a faction of the peace movement’s ideology. According to Stephenson, the basic dtvision within the women’s movement is that between those who struggle for women’s inchron within society (much of the older ‘traditional’ women’s movement) and those who direct their struggle towards the destruction of male power structures, or the addition of ‘female culture’ in order to create a more ‘humane’ society (the new women’s movement). Another fimdamantal spht of a slrmlar nature exists wtthm the peace movement -between those who argue that we must direct the struggle primanly m opposition to direct violence (war, the arms race, etc.) and those who maintain that we must oppose simultaneously direct violence and structural violence, i.e. violence which is inherent in the structure of society, e.g. sexism, racism, and all forms of exploitation. The question is whether we can achieve peace within the existing
Womenand the PeaceMovementm Sweden society or whether we must change the social system. It is here that Stephenson finds the central commonality between the women’s movement and a faction of the peace movement-in their opposition to oppression. Furthermore, this faction of the peace movement is in agreement with the new women’s movement-present soctal structures must be fundamantally changed. Women’s mvolvement within the peace struggle takes a number of forms. We can divide women’s engagement into four categories: (1) latent support amongst women for the peace issue in non-organized forms, i.e. women’s attitudes towards the peace issue, (2) women in traditional peace organisations, (3) the peace issue within women’s organisations, and (4) the women’s peace movement LATENT SUPPORT AMONGST WOMEN FOR THE PEACE ISSUE While the women’s movement 1s a set of organisanons, it IS not the sum of its organisattons. The women’s movement is just as much its media of mteraction-reading, discussions and the perception of examples. Consequently, its achievement and operations are likely to be made largely in the realm of individual experience and not necessarily by a nottceable or concerted action of organisattons (see for example Blumer, 1%9). Hence, we have an emptncal problem in capturing the breadth and force of women’s engagement m the peace struggle. Although the vast majority of women are outside the boundaries of organisations, they have participated within the debate and form the latent support upon which the organisations rely for their mass actions. We can find indications of this latent support m opinion polls. In Sweden, a Sifo poll m 1982 found that 33 per cent of the women respondents gave priority to the peace issue, as opposed to 20 per cent of the male respondents. Women, more than men, support unilateral Qsarmament and nuclear weapon free zones (Peterson, 1984: 12) Why? Certainly, women’s ‘inherent’ pro-life/anti-war stance is a sensinve issue. Here it 1s argued that women’s pro-life/anti-war positton is a result of the soctetal sexual division of labor. In short, women’s anti-war stance 1s not biologically determined, but rather socially determined. WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL PEACE ORGANBATIONS
Many women have historically, and even today,
chosen to direct their involvement in the peace struggle within traditional ‘mixed’ organisations. Although we cannot establish exact figures regard-
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ing women’s membership in these organisattons, we can estimate their membership as formmg a considerable majonty of the total membership. However, while women 8ll the rank and files, men form the leaderslnp of the traditional peace organisations in Sweden (Mgrald, 1974). The patriarchal relations of Swedish society are reproduced within its peace movement, relegating women to background posittons. Two factors contribute to this reproduction. Firstly, we have the mtemal dynamics of the organisation which reproduce traditional male-female relations. Women have difficulty being heard’ and ‘taken seriously’. Secondly, male leadershtp within the peace organisations can be mterpreted as the movement’s adaption to the male-dominated environment Blumberg (1982: 15) argues that, ‘organisauons tend to select representatives who will be able to interact on as close a peer level as possible wtth outsiders. If male radicals won’t take their female members seriously within the organisation, why would they expect the enemy to do so?’ In short, although women form the majority involved within traditional peace organisations in Sweden we don’t ‘see’ them. TRE PEACE ISSUE WITRIN WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS In 1983 58 women’s organisauons were asked to account for those issues to whsh, during the previous year, they had given pnonty. These orgamsations represented the scope of the women’s movement in Sweden: locally organized women’s organisations, centrally orgamzed women’s orgamsauons and party political women’s auxiliaries. Both the orgamsations of the new women’s movement and of the older traditional women’s movement were included Amongst all of these organisattons, the peace issue was given pnority. As the only issue which all of these organisations shared a common concern for and involvement with, the peace issue formed a common denominator for the present women’s movement in Sweden. The only other issue which was shared similarly was the issue of violence against women Forty-five of the 58 orgamsations m the study, had been involved with direct vtolence agamst women (rape, battered women) in their
program for the previous year (Peterson, 1983) THE WOMEN’S PEACE MOVEMENT
The women’s peace movement embraces those women’s orgamsations which devote their activity to the peace struggle. The women’s peace movement m Sweden has its roots in the founding of the ‘Swedish Women’s Peace Association’ in 1898. In 1979 the Swedish cross-political orgamsation, ‘Women for Peace’, was founded. Its formation was initiated in Sweden by the ‘Women’s Cultural
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ABBYFWERSON
Assoaatlon’ (Lundenus, 1980: 19-21). ‘Women for Peace’ was a product of the new women’s movement. It was imtlated by the women of the ‘radical’ women’s movement and thereby retains a distinchon from its historical predecessors Thus, we have a similar division w-tthm the women’s peace movement to the division wthm the broader women’s movement-a &vision between organisations working within the framework of the existing society and organisatlons advocating fundamental changes mthin society’s power structures. The Swedish orgamsation adopted the common Nordic manifesto: ‘More and more we have come to realize that women all over the world nounsh the same thoughts and the same fears: do my children have any future? Together with women all over the world we want to turn our powerlessness to strength. No longer can we accept silently the power game between the super powers. All acts of aggression must be stopped and the disarmament negotiations must be continued and must lead to action and disarmament. We demand: 0 Disarmament to secure lasting peace’ 0 Food instead of arms! 0 No to war” (Brock-Utne, 1981a. 44-45)
In order to gain a clearer picture of the relatlonslup between the women’s movement and the struggle for peace, let us now turn to a case study of one of the local orgarusations within ‘Women for Peace’
‘WOMEN FOR PEACE’ The local organisation of ‘Women for Peace’ m Umei was founded in 1981 m connection ullth a peace seminar arranged by the Umea new women’s movement orgamsation, ‘Women and Work m Vasterbotten’. Who are the women in this orgarnsation? Where have they come from’ Are they new to the women’s movement or have they come from the women’s movement’ Why have these women chosen to become involved urlth the peace issue and why have they chosen a women’s orgamsatlon for peace? These are the questions which I posed to the 131 members of the Umeil local organisation of ‘Women for Peace’.3
The most well represented age cohort is the group between 30 and 39 years of age. However even younger women between 20 and 29 years of age and
A Profile of members Table 1 The members of ‘Women for Peace’ &stnbuted by age
Qty POP
Per cent
(N)
women (per cent)
(N)
20-29
26
(28)
255
(7414)
30-39 w9 50-59 60+
42 24 6 3
(46) (26) (7) (3)
24 4 15 5 14 5 20 2
(7091) (4525) (4214) (5876)
100
(110)
100
(29 120)
Age group
In 1980 more than half a nulhon signatures were collected m Scandinavia m support of this manifesto. The Swe&sh organisation, m cooperation with its Scandinavian sister orgamsations, has orgamsed peace marches to Pans (m 1981), to Moscow (in 1982) and to Washington (m 1983) Yearly peace conferences have been arranged by the organisations.
3 The questlonnalre was sent to 131 women representing the total population of the orgamsation One hundred and ten women responded The city statistics were taken from S$fror om Ume&-I9&3 (Kommukanshets planenngsavdelmng, UmeH, Sweden, 1983.44) The socmeconomlc classdicat~on system was developed by Statlshcs Sweden Swedrrh Socweconomtc Classificatwn, Reports on Statsttcal Co-ordmanon (Stockholm, Statlstxs Sweden, 1982)
Women and the Peace Movement m Sweden women between 40 and 49 years of age are well represented. Our ‘mother’s’ generation, women 50 years old or more, is under-represented in the organisation. Most of the members are married or hving with a man (70 per cent of the survey population). Most of the women are mothers (78 per cent) and they have on an average 2.03 children (in contrast to the national average of 1 67 children) The vast majority of the members are college or university educated (82 per cent of the survey population). Their occupational status mirrors their educational background. The women involved m the UmeA organisation of ‘Women for Peace’ are from the middle stratas. Almost all of the members are employed and have a family. However, this local organisation m UmeA should not be assumed to represent the natronal organisation: UmeH is a small university city, the administrative and medical center for the region. Thus, the members of ‘Women for Peace’ would conform to expectations with workmgclass women only nominally represented. Most members are employed m service occupauons involving the production of services, i.e. healthcare and education. In other words, 90 per cent of the women held public sector jobs whilst only 10 per cent of the members were employed in the private sector with occupations mvolving goods production. Thus our ‘typical’ member IS between 30 and 39 years of age. She is mamed and a mother of two children. She is from the middle stratas and collegeeducated She 1sgamfully employed wrthm the pubhc sector. The ‘typrcal’ member IS much like women m general in the crty in question, _ __ wrth the exception . . . ..of a over-representation of college educated, middle-
635
strata women. Why are middle-strata women overrepresented and working-class women only nominally represented within the organisation? Two hypotheses are offered. Firstly, working-class women are constrained by an imbalance in verbal and educational resources usually associated with this type of political engagement. Middle-strata women tend to have these political resources at their disposal to a greater degree than working strata women This unbalance contributes to working-class women’s ‘rejection’ of the organisation. The second hypothesis deals not with working-class women’s ‘rejection’ of the organisation but with middle-strata women’s ‘attraction’ to this form of political mvolvement. Touraine (1977, and 1981) advocates a renaissance of socral movements arising within the contradictory social relations generated by the postmdustrial technico-economic apparatus, i.e. of the transitron from the liberal state to the welfare state This implies that the ‘new women’s movement is a result of the contradrctory soual relations generated by the rapid growth of the middle stratas in Sweden, m combination with women’s rising participation in the labor force, as intragenerational re-production workers within the welfare state. Our ‘typical member, therefore, is a logical consequence of the dynamic force of this historical transition, in her capacity as middle-strata worker within the public sector. Where have the members of ‘Women for Peace’ come from? Forty-eight per cent (IV= 42) of the members have a previous involvement in the new women’s movement. Thirtv-four oer cent are enpaged in * . II
Table 2 The members dlstnbuted by occupational status Occupational status Unskilled and semi-skdled workers Skdled workers Assistant non-manual employees Intermehate non-manual employees H@er avd servants and execuuves Self-employed wthout employees students upper-secondary school level post-secondary school level Housewives Long-term unemployed
per cent
WI
5 6 7 43 20 1 5 11 1 1
(7) 03) (47) (22) (1) (6) (12) 0) (1)
100
(110)
(5)
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AB~YPETERSON
Table 3 Newcomers, dlstnbuted by age Age cohort
Per cent
2%29
46
(26)
26
30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
32 20 4 2
(18) (11) (2) (1)
42 24 6 3
100
(56)
100
another women’s orgamsation within the movement Fourteen per cent (N= 15) have had expenence within other women’s orgamsations but presently are involved m ‘Women for Peace’ to the exclusion of other organized women’s movement engagements. For fifty-two per cent (N= 56) of the members, Women for Peace 1s their first organized encounter wrth the new women’s movement. Table 3 Indicates a consrderable amount of recruitment amongst younger women. All social movements requires new growth and ‘Women for Peace’ appears to have contnbued to this regeneration m Ume4, at least While a majonty of the members have past or present expenence of orgamsatron membership (62 per cent, N= 64), for a considerable number of the members (38 per cent) this IS then first encounter with an orgamsatron Seventy-four per cent (N = 81) of the members have never been party polmcal active Only 26 per cent (N=29) reported past or present membership within a political party This result corresponds wrth
research which mdrcates that women more often chose ad-hoc pohtrcal actrvrty than party polmcal actrvrty, m contrast to men who are more often active in party politics (Peterson, 1984) Why have these women lorned ‘Women for Peace’3 The women were asked why they have chosen to direct their involvement m the peace Issue wrthm a women’s peace organisatron instead of another of the five locally based peace organisatrons. The reasons grven by the members for their choice of orgamsational mvolvement mdrcate an awareness of the male power structure of tradrtronal organaatrons and a convrctron that as women they possess a unique contributron towards the struggle for peace We can ascertain a clear connection wrth the ideology of the new women’s movement. Women’s mvolvement within ‘Women for Peace’ can be regarded as an extension of the new women’s movement of the 1970s
Table 4 ‘Women for Peace’ members motlvatlon for their choice of orgamsatlonal development Motlvatlon
(1) ‘easier to be heard and taken senously In a women’s organisatlon ’ (2) ‘women have a different approach to the peace questlon than that of men ’ (3) ‘personal contact’ (4) ‘an extension of an exlstmg engagement wlthm the women’s movement ’ emanclpatlon consciousness(5) ‘ststerhood ralsmg ’ (6) ‘orgamsatlonal form with nelghborhood groups ’ (7) ‘the cross-pohtlcal orgamsatlonal form ’ (8)
per cent
(IV)”
38
(42)
31 16
(34) (18)
15
(17)
13
(14)
11 5 12
(6)
(6) (13)
* Many of the women had several responses to the questlon The total population respondmg was 110
Women and the Peace Movement m Sweden
WHY HAS THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT DIRECTEDlTSSTRUGCLE-THE PEACEMovEMENT The women’s movement’s engagement with the peace issue is a complicated pattern of response both to a social crisis and a crisis within the women’s movement. During discussions with a group of women active w&in the Ume& organisation of ‘Women for Peace’, I received some answers as to why the women’s movement has chosen to direct its struggle towards nuclear disarmament .’ The 1978 debate concermng the development of the neutron bomb and the 1979 NATO decision to distribute inter-continental ballistic missiles was the catalyst for women’s increased engagement withm the peace movement. These decisions triggered the women’s movement’s choice of historical pnorifies, but they did so within a social context. These women agreed that the new women’s movement had given them the ‘strength’ to throw themselves into a complicated debate. Armed with ten years struggle against male domination, these women felt that they had an important contribution to an analysis of the threat of nuclear war. society’s patriarchal organisation of production and m-production, determined by male power structure.8 of dominance, was regarded as the reason behind the threat and the corresponding disregard for life. In other words, these women regarded women’s oppression, the interests of male-dominated production and the threat of nuclear destruction as interwoven Hrlthm the fabric of patriarchal society. The peace struggle was seen as a women’s question, as an issue where women have spernal knowledge to contribute to the struggle. However, the women’s movement’s engagement within the peace movement may also be a response to what these women regarded as a crisis within the new women’s movement. These women were disappointed with the development of the movement. They felt that the struggle had become too individualistic, too concerned with each woman’s own ‘self-liberation’. In short, the movement, in these women’s eyes, had become divided mto opposmg factions, particularly between lesbian and
’ By appnxbing social movements as social actors, a research method is neadcd which enables an analysis of the movement’s intentions and motives. A discussion group, consisting of 6 women (3 of whom were new to the movement and 3 of whom had been actwe m the new women’s movement since the 1970s) was formed Adaptingthe ‘method of soc~ologtcalintervention developed by Touraine (1981). the researcher Posed the three questions, accounted for m this paper, durmg 3&r dkusaions with the intention of collcctmg data regarding the organisation’s goals and motives in its political rtNggle
637
heterosexual women. The peace issue was seen to ‘strengthen the character’ and reinforce the movement. Moreover, it was an issue which they felt could consolidate the divided movement. It was a direction of struggle with which they could reach the masses of unorganized women. The women’s movement’s base could be considerably broadened. WHATHASTEEPEACESTRU6GLE CONTRIBUTED TO THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT? Social movement theorists, such as Touraine (1977 and 1981) and Habermas (1981), agree that for a social movement to become a social movement of ‘force’ its struggle cannot remain isolated, but must have a societal character. The movement must attempt to conquer new territory beyond the selfinterests of rts members. Habermas (1981: 34-35) states that: ‘the emancipation of women means more than the merely formal attainment of equality and elumnation of male prejudices. It means the toppling of concrete hfe styles detewned by male monopolies. The historical legacy of the sexual &vision of labor, to which women were subjected m the nuclear bourgeois family, also gves them access to virtues, to a set of values that are both in contrast and complementary to the male world and at odds with the one-sided rationalized prans of everyday life.’
The women’s movement should change from that of a ‘pressure group’ strugghng for the liberation of individual women to a mass movement of women, conscious of their own creativity in shaping society and dlrected towards a struggle which aurns at fundamentally changmg society. It must transcend its previously individualistic character and become a mass movement of societal character strugghng for the right to define the future. But, with ths shift of strategy, has the movement sacrificed the struggle for women’s liberation, or has it simply redefined the basis for women’s liberation. Is the women’s movement’s new priority a sign of defensive retreat or can it be interpreted as an offensive strategy which is aimed at engaging the masses? I think that it is both. On the one hand, the women’s movement’s peace engagement is an attempt to use women’s social character as a basis for protest legitlmacy.5 T’he direction of struggle was consciously
s The use of women’s soaal character for protest legitimacy is not new for the women’s movement Swerdlow (1982) observ4 a similar hutorical praxis at tbe beginnmg of the 1960s with the American movement: ‘Women Strke for Peace’
638
Amy
chosen by the movement m order to attain a legitimacy which they felt was lost by its internal conf%cts durmg the 1970s The movement has recrmted many new members on the basts of this protest legttimacy’. Many of the questioned newcomers to ‘Women for Peace’ explained that it was with the struggle for peace that they felt happy working wtth women 111common protest Thus, the peace engagement has funchoned to recrutt many new members who were untouched by the prevrous dtrecnons of struggle. On the other hand, the new women’s movement’s engagement m the peace struggle is clearly defined on the basis of an analysis of patriarchal soctety and the patriarchal nature of war, and on the basis of women’s superior creativity in re-shaping society and the future. Society should be changed on the basis of women’s values attained through women’s work with, and responsibility for, nurturance and reproduction. It ts women who hold the key to the future of human@. It became evident durmg the discussion that these two collective socio-pohtical tdenttttes are within the orgamsanon. Some women (especiahy the new-comers) were mobilized on the basts of theu tdennty as ‘mothers’. others joined on the basts of thetr idennty as ‘oppressed female cinzens’-a shtft from a prevrous identtty as ‘oppressed women’. These two identities are a source of conthct wtthm the organisation and intluence the scope of the pohncal goals which are arhculated. The degree to whtch the movement can socaahze its new recruits m this understandmg of the patriarchal nature of war and contrive radrcally to struggle against power structures 111society wtll decide whether the movement’s peace engagement 1s defensive or offensive
WHAT HAS THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT CONTRIBUTED TO THE PEACE MOVEMENT? The most obvtous contnbution the women’s movement has made to the peace movement IS Its organisational mnovanons, t.e new and more creative methods of protest, as well as what the women themselves describe as less ‘dogmatic’ orgamsanonal forms capable of unitmg the masses across class bamers. The women’s movement’s flat orgamsanonal form, while perhaps hampermg effectiveness, enables the orgamsatton to socrahze its members m the struggle. Accordmg to Johan Galtung, women’s engagement 111the peace movement has contributed to a shrft of values necessary for an alternative to the male logtc of war and nuclear armament (Solomon, 1982: 33-34) Women have gtven the peace movement a basis for alternative action and analysis of the social character of nuclear armaments It is here that we tind the
PETERSON women’s movement’s principal contnbubon to the peace struggle. And tt is upon the basis of thts contnbunon that the women’s movement’s new pnonty for peace proves its offenstve character m the struggle to define the futur~in women’s terms REFERENCES
As, Bent 1982 A matenahshc view of men’s and women’s attttudes towards war Women’s Studw.r Int Forum 5 (3/4) 355-364 Blumberg, Rhoda Lots 1982. Women as alhes of other oppressed groups Some hypothesued hnks between soctal acttvrsm and female consctousness Paper presented at the Tenth World Congress of the Intemattonal Soctological Assoctatton, Mexico City Blumer, Herbert 1969 Social movements In McLaughhn, Barry, ed , Studws rn Soctal Movements The Free Press, New York Brock-Utne, Btrgtt 1981a Kvmner 1 fredsarbetd In Fetschrif for Eva Nordland. Aschehoug, Oslo
Brock-Utne, Bn@. 1981b The role of women as mothers and members of soctety in the educatron of young people for peace, mutual understanding and respect for human nghts Commissioned paper for a UNESCO meetmg on the role of women m peace educatton New Delhi, India Dahlerup, Drude and Bnta Gulh 1983 Kuindeorgarusattoneme i Norden: avmagt eiler modmagt’ In HaavtoManmla, Ehna et al., eds, Det uferdtge abnokratret Nordtsk MtmnsterrHd, Oslo Flensted-Jensen, Ehsabeth, Susi Frastem and Anette Steen Pedersen. 1977. MeUem opg#r og blpasnmg Modtryck, Arhus, Denmark Goransson, Amta. 1980 Kvinnori)relsen u&r 80-talet har vt fliitoma 1brevl&dan’ Zenu 67: 52-60 Habermas, Juurgen 1981 New soctal movements Telos 14 (3). 33-38 Lundenus, Mana. 1980 Attitudes of Polish and Scandrnavtan women towards peace. A paper presented at the World Conference for the UN Decade for Women, Copenhagen, Denmark. Mftrald, Bert 1974 Den svenska fieds- och neutraluetsrorelsens uppkomst Akadermforlaget, Stockholm, Sweden Peterson, Abby. 1983 Kvmnororelsen 1 Svenge, 19801983 Unpubhshed manuscript, the Department of Soctology, UmeH Universrty, Sweden Peterson, Abby 1984. ‘Ihe gender-sex dunenston m Swetih pohtrcs. Acta Socwlogrca 27 (1) 3-17 Regtster, Chen 1977 Kvmnokamp och lrtteratur I USA och Sverlge Raben & SJogren, Stockholm Salomon, I(lm 1982 Europas f’redsrorelser: ‘Skapa fred utan vapen’ Internatwnella Studuzr 12 (4). 29-37 Stephensen, Carolyn. 1982. Fenuntsm, pacttism, natronaitsm, and the Umted Nahons Decade for Women Women’s Studtes Int Forum 5 (314). 287-300 Swerdlow, Amy 1982 Ladtes day at the capital Women’s strtke for peace versus HUAC Femuust St&es 8 (3) 493-520 Tourame, Alam 1977 The Self-Productwn of Socrety Umverstty of Chtcago Press, Chicago. Touratne, Alatn. 1981. The Votce and the Eye Cambrtdge Utuverstty Press, Cambndge
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Primed m Great Bntun
THE NEW WOMEN’S MOVEMENT-WHERE HAVE ALL THE WOMENGONE? WOMEN AND THE PEACE MOVEMENT IN SWEDEN ABBY
PETERSON
Department of sociology, Umce Unnerslty, S-901 87 UmeB,
Sweden
Synqrsis--The new women’smovementm Swedenhas been mvolved increasingly in Peace ~SSUCS TRis artide asks who these peace campaigners are and where they have come from. Furthermore, what does this change of direction mean for the women’s movement as a whole in Sweden’ What are the motwes behind this new strategy?
The ‘new women’s movement’ in Sweden, as in most western European countries, arose out of the student protest movement of the sixties. The new women’s movement in Sweden was characterized by its organisational form which centered around the consciousness-raising group and by its political direction: ‘the private is political’. In this sense the Swedish version shared a common feminist profile, although it retained its socialist emphasis. As in most western women’s movements of thts period, women’s liberation issues were on the agenda: abortion, the right to work outside the home and an independent source of income, childcare facthties, the right to a ‘female’ sexuality, pornography, etc.. Between 1970 and 1977, the new women’s movement reached its zenith in Sweden. Since then the new women’s movement has declined in strength and influence.1 Many observers have mourned the dtsappearance of the new women’s movement. Where have all the women gone? To answer this question, an analysis of the women’s movement in its broader sense IS needed. The women’s movement is a social movement embedded within the societal relations of patriarchy. As such it must be understood as a dynamic historical process. The new women’s movement was not an isolated or spontaneous social phenomenon. It was one direction of struggle within the women’s movement. In other words, it is argued here that the
1 For a comprehensive descnpbon and analysis of the Swed& new women’s movement see Dahlerup and Gull1 (1983). For a discussion dealing with the ‘decline’ of the new women’s movement m Sweden see Register (1977), Fknsted-Jensen et al , (1977) and Gbransson (19EiO) 631
movement has not ‘disappeared’, it has simply taken on new forms and struggles. In Sweden, the new women’s movement is far from dead; rather, it has directed its struggle towards an engagement against dnect violence. On the one hand, the struggle is directed towards dealing with direct violence in the private sphererape, battered women, child abuse and incest. In Sweden, approximately 80 women’s crisis centers (in the forms of apartments, houses and telephone hotlines) have been established. On the other hand, women have increased their engagement with the peace issue, struggling against the direct public violence sanctioned by the state. (See even BrockUtne, 1981a: 133-146.) In this article, I will focus attention upon this latter struggle What charactertxes this struggle? Who are the wOrnen and where have they come from? Why has the women’s movement directed its struggle withm the peace issue, and what has this engagement contributed to the peace movement? And finally, what has this involvement contributed to the women’s movement THE WOMEN’S MOVBMENT AS A SOCIAL MOVEMENT The women’s movement can be understood as the subjective collective action of women m response to the societal relations of patnarchy. Expressing the contradictions inherent in social relations, we are forced to study the women’s movement as a dynamic htstorical process. The women’s movement is a direction(s) of struggle; thereby tt alludes a concrete determmation of its boundanes, organisattons and instttutions and its followers Although much of the women’s movement’s
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PETERSON
politics may be directed towards an ideological cntictsm of soctety, the movement has a matenal basis As a social movement, it receives its impetus from the patnarchal dtvision of labor.2 The patnarchal division of labor has resulted m the division of societal labor between the sexes-men are responsible for the production of commodities and women are responsible for the re-production of the work force and social relations--and in the hierarchal orgamsatlon of production and reproduction, whereas production and the interests of production dominate re-productton and the interests of re-production. I have defined the political expression of the opposing interests generated by the patnarchal divrsion of labor as the gender-sex dtmension (Peterson, 1984.) The gender-sex dimension is an analytical tool by which we can better understand the ObJective opposition of interests between men and women, between groups of women, and between the interests of production and re-production. The gender-sex dimension includes four categones of issues related to: (1) the interests of intergenerational re-producuon (the biological re-production of the species), i.e. the peace issue and ecological issues; (2) the interests of intragenerational re-production (the daily reproduction of the workforce and the re-production of social relattons) m the family, e.g. consumer interests, improved residential environments, etc.; (3) the mterests of intragenerational re-producuon in the public sector, e.g. the quality of socialand healthcare, etc., and (4) the self-interests of re-productton workers (women), i.e. women’s hberation issues; the early new women’s movement’s historical prionty The various elements of the women’s movement are united by a political articulation of one or more of the categones of the gender-sex &mension. The gender-sex dimension expresses the scope of the pohtnzal directions inherent wtthm the social relations of patnarchy. In other words, the gendersex dimension, as a theoretical construction, is a groove catalogue of the politrcal drrections available to the women’s movement within the framework of the ObJective social relations of patriarchy. However, the women’s movement, understood as the subjective expression of one or more of these directions at any given historical moment, is not merely the passive reflection of these ObJective social relations. The women’s movement’s choice of direction, i.e its htstoncal priorities, is an active response to these social relations and thereby defines
* The patnarchal dwision of labor alludes to the sexual dimsIon of labor where women and women’s work 1s subordmate to men and to men’s work
the social relattons of patnarchy. The analysis will attempt to concentrate upon the women’s movement m this active sense. In what way 1s the women’s movement’s present direction of struggle m Sweden-the struggle for the interests of intergenerational re-productron through the articulation of the peace issue-defining the soctal relations of patnarchy. WOMEN AM) THE PEACE ISSUE-THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT ANB THE PEACE MOVEMENT Women’s shared experiences of, and responsibility for, intergenerational re-production, which is generated by the social relations of patriarchy, unite women m a common concern for the future of humanity and for future generations. According to Brock-Utne (1981a: 136), that which characterizes women’s struggle for peace is the concern for other human beings, especially children. In contrast, As (1982: 355) argues that ‘men and women are disposed to feel and believe m different ways towards war because of their different relationships to military acts of destruction, to territories and to the army.’ Women’s anti-militarism and peace involvement is not so much a result of women’s work with re-production; it is a result of women’s exclusion from work with, and responsibility for, commodity production and technology This ‘disconnection’ with production and power has ‘provlded the new women’s movement wrth an anchorage m values which largely protect fundamental human rights.’ (ibid: 363-364). Both perspectives, however, are based upon a materialistic analysis of the social relations of patriarchy. Women’s involvement m the peace struggle is seen to be generated, although m different ways, by the patnarchal division of labor Stephenson (1982) argues that there exists a lmkage between a faction of the women’s movement’s ideology and a faction of the peace movement’s ideology. According to Stephenson, the basic dtvision within the women’s movement is that between those who struggle for women’s inchron within society (much of the older ‘traditional’ women’s movement) and those who direct their struggle towards the destruction of male power structures, or the addition of ‘female culture’ in order to create a more ‘humane’ society (the new women’s movement). Another fimdamantal spht of a slrmlar nature exists wtthm the peace movement -between those who argue that we must direct the struggle primanly m opposition to direct violence (war, the arms race, etc.) and those who maintain that we must oppose simultaneously direct violence and structural violence, i.e. violence which is inherent in the structure of society, e.g. sexism, racism, and all forms of exploitation. The question is whether we can achieve peace within the existing
Womenand the PeaceMovementm Sweden society or whether we must change the social system. It is here that Stephenson finds the central commonality between the women’s movement and a faction of the peace movement-in their opposition to oppression. Furthermore, this faction of the peace movement is in agreement with the new women’s movement-present soctal structures must be fundamantally changed. Women’s mvolvement within the peace struggle takes a number of forms. We can divide women’s engagement into four categories: (1) latent support amongst women for the peace issue in non-organized forms, i.e. women’s attitudes towards the peace issue, (2) women in traditional peace organisations, (3) the peace issue within women’s organisations, and (4) the women’s peace movement LATENT SUPPORT AMONGST WOMEN FOR THE PEACE ISSUE While the women’s movement 1s a set of organisanons, it IS not the sum of its organisattons. The women’s movement is just as much its media of mteraction-reading, discussions and the perception of examples. Consequently, its achievement and operations are likely to be made largely in the realm of individual experience and not necessarily by a nottceable or concerted action of organisattons (see for example Blumer, 1%9). Hence, we have an emptncal problem in capturing the breadth and force of women’s engagement m the peace struggle. Although the vast majority of women are outside the boundaries of organisations, they have participated within the debate and form the latent support upon which the organisations rely for their mass actions. We can find indications of this latent support m opinion polls. In Sweden, a Sifo poll m 1982 found that 33 per cent of the women respondents gave priority to the peace issue, as opposed to 20 per cent of the male respondents. Women, more than men, support unilateral Qsarmament and nuclear weapon free zones (Peterson, 1984: 12) Why? Certainly, women’s ‘inherent’ pro-life/anti-war stance is a sensinve issue. Here it 1s argued that women’s pro-life/anti-war positton is a result of the soctetal sexual division of labor. In short, women’s anti-war stance 1s not biologically determined, but rather socially determined. WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL PEACE ORGANBATIONS
Many women have historically, and even today,
chosen to direct their involvement in the peace struggle within traditional ‘mixed’ organisations. Although we cannot establish exact figures regard-
633
ing women’s membership in these organisattons, we can estimate their membership as formmg a considerable majonty of the total membership. However, while women 8ll the rank and files, men form the leaderslnp of the traditional peace organisations in Sweden (Mgrald, 1974). The patriarchal relations of Swedish society are reproduced within its peace movement, relegating women to background posittons. Two factors contribute to this reproduction. Firstly, we have the mtemal dynamics of the organisation which reproduce traditional male-female relations. Women have difficulty being heard’ and ‘taken seriously’. Secondly, male leadershtp within the peace organisations can be mterpreted as the movement’s adaption to the male-dominated environment Blumberg (1982: 15) argues that, ‘organisauons tend to select representatives who will be able to interact on as close a peer level as possible wtth outsiders. If male radicals won’t take their female members seriously within the organisation, why would they expect the enemy to do so?’ In short, although women form the majority involved within traditional peace organisations in Sweden we don’t ‘see’ them. TRE PEACE ISSUE WITRIN WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS In 1983 58 women’s organisauons were asked to account for those issues to whsh, during the previous year, they had given pnonty. These orgamsations represented the scope of the women’s movement in Sweden: locally organized women’s organisations, centrally orgamzed women’s orgamsauons and party political women’s auxiliaries. Both the orgamsations of the new women’s movement and of the older traditional women’s movement were included Amongst all of these organisattons, the peace issue was given pnority. As the only issue which all of these organisations shared a common concern for and involvement with, the peace issue formed a common denominator for the present women’s movement in Sweden. The only other issue which was shared similarly was the issue of violence against women Forty-five of the 58 orgamsations m the study, had been involved with direct vtolence agamst women (rape, battered women) in their
program for the previous year (Peterson, 1983) THE WOMEN’S PEACE MOVEMENT
The women’s peace movement embraces those women’s orgamsations which devote their activity to the peace struggle. The women’s peace movement m Sweden has its roots in the founding of the ‘Swedish Women’s Peace Association’ in 1898. In 1979 the Swedish cross-political orgamsation, ‘Women for Peace’, was founded. Its formation was initiated in Sweden by the ‘Women’s Cultural
634
ABBYFWERSON
Assoaatlon’ (Lundenus, 1980: 19-21). ‘Women for Peace’ was a product of the new women’s movement. It was imtlated by the women of the ‘radical’ women’s movement and thereby retains a distinchon from its historical predecessors Thus, we have a similar division w-tthm the women’s peace movement to the division wthm the broader women’s movement-a &vision between organisations working within the framework of the existing society and organisatlons advocating fundamental changes mthin society’s power structures. The Swedish orgamsation adopted the common Nordic manifesto: ‘More and more we have come to realize that women all over the world nounsh the same thoughts and the same fears: do my children have any future? Together with women all over the world we want to turn our powerlessness to strength. No longer can we accept silently the power game between the super powers. All acts of aggression must be stopped and the disarmament negotiations must be continued and must lead to action and disarmament. We demand: 0 Disarmament to secure lasting peace’ 0 Food instead of arms! 0 No to war” (Brock-Utne, 1981a. 44-45)
In order to gain a clearer picture of the relatlonslup between the women’s movement and the struggle for peace, let us now turn to a case study of one of the local orgarusations within ‘Women for Peace’
‘WOMEN FOR PEACE’ The local organisation of ‘Women for Peace’ m Umei was founded in 1981 m connection ullth a peace seminar arranged by the Umea new women’s movement orgamsation, ‘Women and Work m Vasterbotten’. Who are the women in this orgarnsation? Where have they come from’ Are they new to the women’s movement or have they come from the women’s movement’ Why have these women chosen to become involved urlth the peace issue and why have they chosen a women’s orgamsatlon for peace? These are the questions which I posed to the 131 members of the Umeil local organisation of ‘Women for Peace’.3
The most well represented age cohort is the group between 30 and 39 years of age. However even younger women between 20 and 29 years of age and
A Profile of members Table 1 The members of ‘Women for Peace’ &stnbuted by age
Qty POP
Per cent
(N)
women (per cent)
(N)
20-29
26
(28)
255
(7414)
30-39 w9 50-59 60+
42 24 6 3
(46) (26) (7) (3)
24 4 15 5 14 5 20 2
(7091) (4525) (4214) (5876)
100
(110)
100
(29 120)
Age group
In 1980 more than half a nulhon signatures were collected m Scandinavia m support of this manifesto. The Swe&sh organisation, m cooperation with its Scandinavian sister orgamsations, has orgamsed peace marches to Pans (m 1981), to Moscow (in 1982) and to Washington (m 1983) Yearly peace conferences have been arranged by the organisations.
3 The questlonnalre was sent to 131 women representing the total population of the orgamsation One hundred and ten women responded The city statistics were taken from S$fror om Ume&-I9&3 (Kommukanshets planenngsavdelmng, UmeH, Sweden, 1983.44) The socmeconomlc classdicat~on system was developed by Statlshcs Sweden Swedrrh Socweconomtc Classificatwn, Reports on Statsttcal Co-ordmanon (Stockholm, Statlstxs Sweden, 1982)
Women and the Peace Movement m Sweden women between 40 and 49 years of age are well represented. Our ‘mother’s’ generation, women 50 years old or more, is under-represented in the organisation. Most of the members are married or hving with a man (70 per cent of the survey population). Most of the women are mothers (78 per cent) and they have on an average 2.03 children (in contrast to the national average of 1 67 children) The vast majority of the members are college or university educated (82 per cent of the survey population). Their occupational status mirrors their educational background. The women involved m the UmeA organisation of ‘Women for Peace’ are from the middle stratas. Almost all of the members are employed and have a family. However, this local organisation m UmeA should not be assumed to represent the natronal organisation: UmeH is a small university city, the administrative and medical center for the region. Thus, the members of ‘Women for Peace’ would conform to expectations with workmgclass women only nominally represented. Most members are employed m service occupauons involving the production of services, i.e. healthcare and education. In other words, 90 per cent of the women held public sector jobs whilst only 10 per cent of the members were employed in the private sector with occupations mvolving goods production. Thus our ‘typical’ member IS between 30 and 39 years of age. She is mamed and a mother of two children. She is from the middle stratas and collegeeducated She 1sgamfully employed wrthm the pubhc sector. The ‘typrcal’ member IS much like women m general in the crty in question, _ __ wrth the exception . . . ..of a over-representation of college educated, middle-
635
strata women. Why are middle-strata women overrepresented and working-class women only nominally represented within the organisation? Two hypotheses are offered. Firstly, working-class women are constrained by an imbalance in verbal and educational resources usually associated with this type of political engagement. Middle-strata women tend to have these political resources at their disposal to a greater degree than working strata women This unbalance contributes to working-class women’s ‘rejection’ of the organisation. The second hypothesis deals not with working-class women’s ‘rejection’ of the organisation but with middle-strata women’s ‘attraction’ to this form of political mvolvement. Touraine (1977, and 1981) advocates a renaissance of socral movements arising within the contradictory social relations generated by the postmdustrial technico-economic apparatus, i.e. of the transitron from the liberal state to the welfare state This implies that the ‘new women’s movement is a result of the contradrctory soual relations generated by the rapid growth of the middle stratas in Sweden, m combination with women’s rising participation in the labor force, as intragenerational re-production workers within the welfare state. Our ‘typical member, therefore, is a logical consequence of the dynamic force of this historical transition, in her capacity as middle-strata worker within the public sector. Where have the members of ‘Women for Peace’ come from? Forty-eight per cent (IV= 42) of the members have a previous involvement in the new women’s movement. Thirtv-four oer cent are enpaged in * . II
Table 2 The members dlstnbuted by occupational status Occupational status Unskilled and semi-skdled workers Skdled workers Assistant non-manual employees Intermehate non-manual employees H@er avd servants and execuuves Self-employed wthout employees students upper-secondary school level post-secondary school level Housewives Long-term unemployed
per cent
WI
5 6 7 43 20 1 5 11 1 1
(7) 03) (47) (22) (1) (6) (12) 0) (1)
100
(110)
(5)
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AB~YPETERSON
Table 3 Newcomers, dlstnbuted by age Age cohort
Per cent
2%29
46
(26)
26
30-39 40-49 50-59 60+
32 20 4 2
(18) (11) (2) (1)
42 24 6 3
100
(56)
100
another women’s orgamsation within the movement Fourteen per cent (N= 15) have had expenence within other women’s orgamsations but presently are involved m ‘Women for Peace’ to the exclusion of other organized women’s movement engagements. For fifty-two per cent (N= 56) of the members, Women for Peace 1s their first organized encounter wrth the new women’s movement. Table 3 Indicates a consrderable amount of recruitment amongst younger women. All social movements requires new growth and ‘Women for Peace’ appears to have contnbued to this regeneration m Ume4, at least While a majonty of the members have past or present expenence of orgamsatron membership (62 per cent, N= 64), for a considerable number of the members (38 per cent) this IS then first encounter with an orgamsatron Seventy-four per cent (N = 81) of the members have never been party polmcal active Only 26 per cent (N=29) reported past or present membership within a political party This result corresponds wrth
research which mdrcates that women more often chose ad-hoc pohtrcal actrvrty than party polmcal actrvrty, m contrast to men who are more often active in party politics (Peterson, 1984) Why have these women lorned ‘Women for Peace’3 The women were asked why they have chosen to direct their involvement m the peace Issue wrthm a women’s peace organisatron instead of another of the five locally based peace organisatrons. The reasons grven by the members for their choice of orgamsational mvolvement mdrcate an awareness of the male power structure of tradrtronal organaatrons and a convrctron that as women they possess a unique contributron towards the struggle for peace We can ascertain a clear connection wrth the ideology of the new women’s movement. Women’s mvolvement within ‘Women for Peace’ can be regarded as an extension of the new women’s movement of the 1970s
Table 4 ‘Women for Peace’ members motlvatlon for their choice of orgamsatlonal development Motlvatlon
(1) ‘easier to be heard and taken senously In a women’s organisatlon ’ (2) ‘women have a different approach to the peace questlon than that of men ’ (3) ‘personal contact’ (4) ‘an extension of an exlstmg engagement wlthm the women’s movement ’ emanclpatlon consciousness(5) ‘ststerhood ralsmg ’ (6) ‘orgamsatlonal form with nelghborhood groups ’ (7) ‘the cross-pohtlcal orgamsatlonal form ’ (8)
per cent
(IV)”
38
(42)
31 16
(34) (18)
15
(17)
13
(14)
11 5 12
(6)
(6) (13)
* Many of the women had several responses to the questlon The total population respondmg was 110
Women and the Peace Movement m Sweden
WHY HAS THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT DIRECTEDlTSSTRUGCLE-THE PEACEMovEMENT The women’s movement’s engagement with the peace issue is a complicated pattern of response both to a social crisis and a crisis within the women’s movement. During discussions with a group of women active w&in the Ume& organisation of ‘Women for Peace’, I received some answers as to why the women’s movement has chosen to direct its struggle towards nuclear disarmament .’ The 1978 debate concermng the development of the neutron bomb and the 1979 NATO decision to distribute inter-continental ballistic missiles was the catalyst for women’s increased engagement withm the peace movement. These decisions triggered the women’s movement’s choice of historical pnorifies, but they did so within a social context. These women agreed that the new women’s movement had given them the ‘strength’ to throw themselves into a complicated debate. Armed with ten years struggle against male domination, these women felt that they had an important contribution to an analysis of the threat of nuclear war. society’s patriarchal organisation of production and m-production, determined by male power structure.8 of dominance, was regarded as the reason behind the threat and the corresponding disregard for life. In other words, these women regarded women’s oppression, the interests of male-dominated production and the threat of nuclear destruction as interwoven Hrlthm the fabric of patriarchal society. The peace struggle was seen as a women’s question, as an issue where women have spernal knowledge to contribute to the struggle. However, the women’s movement’s engagement within the peace movement may also be a response to what these women regarded as a crisis within the new women’s movement. These women were disappointed with the development of the movement. They felt that the struggle had become too individualistic, too concerned with each woman’s own ‘self-liberation’. In short, the movement, in these women’s eyes, had become divided mto opposmg factions, particularly between lesbian and
’ By appnxbing social movements as social actors, a research method is neadcd which enables an analysis of the movement’s intentions and motives. A discussion group, consisting of 6 women (3 of whom were new to the movement and 3 of whom had been actwe m the new women’s movement since the 1970s) was formed Adaptingthe ‘method of soc~ologtcalintervention developed by Touraine (1981). the researcher Posed the three questions, accounted for m this paper, durmg 3&r dkusaions with the intention of collcctmg data regarding the organisation’s goals and motives in its political rtNggle
637
heterosexual women. The peace issue was seen to ‘strengthen the character’ and reinforce the movement. Moreover, it was an issue which they felt could consolidate the divided movement. It was a direction of struggle with which they could reach the masses of unorganized women. The women’s movement’s base could be considerably broadened. WHATHASTEEPEACESTRU6GLE CONTRIBUTED TO THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT? Social movement theorists, such as Touraine (1977 and 1981) and Habermas (1981), agree that for a social movement to become a social movement of ‘force’ its struggle cannot remain isolated, but must have a societal character. The movement must attempt to conquer new territory beyond the selfinterests of rts members. Habermas (1981: 34-35) states that: ‘the emancipation of women means more than the merely formal attainment of equality and elumnation of male prejudices. It means the toppling of concrete hfe styles detewned by male monopolies. The historical legacy of the sexual &vision of labor, to which women were subjected m the nuclear bourgeois family, also gves them access to virtues, to a set of values that are both in contrast and complementary to the male world and at odds with the one-sided rationalized prans of everyday life.’
The women’s movement should change from that of a ‘pressure group’ strugghng for the liberation of individual women to a mass movement of women, conscious of their own creativity in shaping society and dlrected towards a struggle which aurns at fundamentally changmg society. It must transcend its previously individualistic character and become a mass movement of societal character strugghng for the right to define the future. But, with ths shift of strategy, has the movement sacrificed the struggle for women’s liberation, or has it simply redefined the basis for women’s liberation. Is the women’s movement’s new priority a sign of defensive retreat or can it be interpreted as an offensive strategy which is aimed at engaging the masses? I think that it is both. On the one hand, the women’s movement’s peace engagement is an attempt to use women’s social character as a basis for protest legitlmacy.5 T’he direction of struggle was consciously
s The use of women’s soaal character for protest legitimacy is not new for the women’s movement Swerdlow (1982) observ4 a similar hutorical praxis at tbe beginnmg of the 1960s with the American movement: ‘Women Strke for Peace’
638
Amy
chosen by the movement m order to attain a legitimacy which they felt was lost by its internal conf%cts durmg the 1970s The movement has recrmted many new members on the basts of this protest legttimacy’. Many of the questioned newcomers to ‘Women for Peace’ explained that it was with the struggle for peace that they felt happy working wtth women 111common protest Thus, the peace engagement has funchoned to recrutt many new members who were untouched by the prevrous dtrecnons of struggle. On the other hand, the new women’s movement’s engagement m the peace struggle is clearly defined on the basis of an analysis of patriarchal soctety and the patriarchal nature of war, and on the basis of women’s superior creativity in re-shaping society and the future. Society should be changed on the basis of women’s values attained through women’s work with, and responsibility for, nurturance and reproduction. It ts women who hold the key to the future of human@. It became evident durmg the discussion that these two collective socio-pohtical tdenttttes are within the orgamsanon. Some women (especiahy the new-comers) were mobilized on the basts of theu tdennty as ‘mothers’. others joined on the basts of thetr idennty as ‘oppressed female cinzens’-a shtft from a prevrous identtty as ‘oppressed women’. These two identities are a source of conthct wtthm the organisation and intluence the scope of the pohncal goals which are arhculated. The degree to whtch the movement can socaahze its new recruits m this understandmg of the patriarchal nature of war and contrive radrcally to struggle against power structures 111society wtll decide whether the movement’s peace engagement 1s defensive or offensive
WHAT HAS THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT CONTRIBUTED TO THE PEACE MOVEMENT? The most obvtous contnbution the women’s movement has made to the peace movement IS Its organisational mnovanons, t.e new and more creative methods of protest, as well as what the women themselves describe as less ‘dogmatic’ orgamsanonal forms capable of unitmg the masses across class bamers. The women’s movement’s flat orgamsanonal form, while perhaps hampermg effectiveness, enables the orgamsatton to socrahze its members m the struggle. Accordmg to Johan Galtung, women’s engagement 111the peace movement has contributed to a shrft of values necessary for an alternative to the male logtc of war and nuclear armament (Solomon, 1982: 33-34) Women have gtven the peace movement a basis for alternative action and analysis of the social character of nuclear armaments It is here that we tind the
PETERSON women’s movement’s principal contnbubon to the peace struggle. And tt is upon the basis of thts contnbunon that the women’s movement’s new pnonty for peace proves its offenstve character m the struggle to define the futur~in women’s terms REFERENCES
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