Women and Power in Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures and Societies

Revisits issues of gender equality and feminism fifty years after revolutionary protests changed French society.

The women represented in this volume as both authors and protagonists exert power by resisting the social paradigms that govern how they "should" behave--by thwarting expectations of typical "feminine" conduct (whether in relation to female corporeality and sexuality) or by their (non)adherence to the institutions of marriage and motherhood. However, they also claim power by espousing more conventionally "feminine" roles, recuperating and revaluing those that entail caring and nurturing. They emphasize, in ways consistent with the growing body of feminist work on care relations, the positive, life-affirming potential that such roles embody. This volume focuses on women who, through smaller and larger acts of empowerment, seek to exert influence over their life choices. Its diverse contributions acknowledge the contextual, historical, and intersectional specificities governing every woman's power to choose her own present and future, and the important role played by even incremental changes in contributing to a greater sense of personal independence and self-knowledge, without which there can be no meaningful political change.

About the author

Shirley Jordan is professor of French studies at Newcastle University. Siobhán McIlvanney is professor of French and Francophone women's writing at King's College London.

Product details

• Assisted by: Jordan Shirley (Editor), Siobhán McIlvanney (Editor)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 15.04.2026
• EAN: 9781837723669
• ISBN: 978-1-83772-366-9
• No. of pages: 320
• Series: French and Francophone Studies
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Power, Women, French, Jordan, Contemporary, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies, Shirley, HISTORY / Europe / France, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Feminism & Feminist Theory, cultures, Feminism & feminist theory, Gender studies: women, francophone, Feminism and feminist theory, Gender studies: women and girls, McIlvanney, societies, Siobhán