Women's political organizations in the transition to democracy: an assessment of the Spanish and Italian cases.

Narrow definitions of democracy, politics, and citizenship are of little use for understanding the place of gender in the process of democratization. Paying more attention to the study of Southern Europe's emerging social movements prior to the transition to democracy rather than merely during and after it is central to understanding women's roles in democratization processes of that region. Although women were part of political parties, associations and social movements both before the overthrow of undemocratic regimes and also at the dawn of democracy, their presence is rarely accounted for in scholarly analyses. Even if their presence in the political realm tended to be less institutionalized, women's grievances were part of the discourse and debate that went on during democratization. Their participation made a difference in the democratization of Southern Europe.

Here, I compare Italy and Spain, southern European countries that experienced authoritarian rule and were predominantly Catholic. However, they experienced democratization at different historical moments and in different political contexts. Italy initiated its democratization process in the post-World War II context, while Spain had to wait thirty years until the third wave of democratization (initiated in Portugal) reached the other side of the Iberian Peninsula in 1975. (1) The difference in timing of the democratization process of these two countries is important in understanding their distinct experiences on the path taken toward democracy, and the role of women in democratization. Of course, differences in political socialization of men and women in both countries are the result of general socialization processes in which school, work and the church played crucial roles as key spheres of socialization that shaped and defined the contours of that differential and the contours of existing gender …