SCHOOL
POLITICS "HANNAH ARENDT":
feminine presence in the public sphere
Objective
 The
project aims to foster the feminine presence in the public sphere, by assuming and giving
value to the remarkable awareness and both theoretical and practical competence that women
and feminism have achieved in more than 25 years. Specifically, it intends to research,
document, experiment, discuss, exchange and disseminate at local, Italian, European and
international levels some of the significant and effective projects, initiatives and
actions ("good practices") that women have
carried out in politics and society, in their broader sense.
Mainstreaming
and empowerment are terms often used nowadays when speaking about
women in relation to politics, economy and society. We adopt them only if specified as
follows. We understand mainstreaming as placing women in the centre of associated
and institutional life in order to foster new ideas, values and behaviours aiming at a
more just world for women and men. We consider empowerment as recognition of
feminine authority and not only as access to the exercise of power as it is today. Thus,
our project looks at those practices of women and feminists that have resulted in new and
richer forms of civil life as well as new forms of public action by women and men in
politics.
These
practices of women are numerous and diverse: they range from the organisation of public
spaces for reflection and action, independent of institutions, to innovative relations
between women in governments, political elective institutions and administration and women
politically active "outside", for example in the autonomous spaces. They are
practices, which are moulding and requesting new representations of politics, which should
overcome the traditional and static dualism between civil society and state. They
encourage theoretical and conceptual work, which should relate the classical thought about
politics and society to the theories and "visions" elaborated by e feminism and
many women in general.
Our
specific purpose is to define and carry out codified practices of participation in
the public sphere and codified procedures of interaction among different grounds and
levels of action, institutional and non-institutional. The international
seminars contribute in achieving this goal, by comparing, evaluating and theoretically
discussing the good practices.
Specific, though not exclusive attention is paid to the technical,
administrative and political institutions of public
health in Italy and Europe, for several reasons. This sector, which has a major
relevance to women’s and men’s lives, plays a central role in the
administration, even in the definition of European states. Although it employs a large
number of women, the gender representation in the decision-making processes is seriously
unbalanced in most of the European countries.
Duration
Three years, from July 1997 to June 2000
Activities and forecasted results
In order to achieve the objectives of the project, the following
activities are foreseen.
Collection and cataloguing of
example of good practices
The collection, discussion and cataloguing of good practices will result,
at the end of the project, in an archive of good practices, which will be published
in printed and computerised formats, such as a database. It will be characterised by the
attention towards qualitative, rather than quantitative aspects of the recorded practices.
Indeed, too often the focus on figures (how many women in decision making, parliaments,
administrations and so on) has overshadowed the innovations that women's presence and
initiatives have brought in the work organisation, for example, or in the forms of
decision making. Thus the archive does not seek to be exhaustive, but to be
representative: not the greatest number possible, but the most significant typologies
should be recorded.
The collection of good practices will last three years, in the 15 member
states of European Union and in Norway. A specific section of the catalogue will be
devoted to the good practices in the public health sector. A Survey Card has been
developed, to collect and catalogue good practices.
Seminars of the "School of politics Hannah Arendt"
Within the three years, itinerant seminars are planned in Italian
towns and in the partner countries, as well as series of courses to be held in
Bologna. The two kinds of events respond to the specific character that the School should
have: a public space for debate and action at European and international levels, but with
steady local roots, which could guarantee the survival of the School even after the end of
the project.
The seminars are designed as work sessions, during which the examples of
projects, actions and initiatives collected and catalogued in the Archive could be
compared, discussed and evaluated in a theoretical perspective. In this way, the relevant
and urgent theoretical and conceptual issues (such as the notions of democracy, political
representativeness, co-existing/conflicting identities) should emerge from the actual
practices. Their underlying principles and implications will be matched with the women's
and feminist tradition and political experience, on one hand, and with the classical
political thought, on the other.
The whole three-year series of seminars must be considered as a work in
progress, so that each seminar could be built on previous ones. Three key-words identify
the path of our reflection: democracy, identity/difference and creation of connections
(or, in other terms, the building of a "we"). They define a cluster of themes
which will be addressed year after year, seminar after seminar. In the third year, an
international conference is planned, in which the achievements of the seminars will be
presented and evaluated. An international conference on the specific topics of health is
foreseen in the second year (please see Newsletter for details on the programmes, calendar, places of
the seminars and on the procedure of participation).
The results will be
published both in printed form and on the Internet.
Experimentation
Innovative forms of participation in the public sphere and in the
political and administrative decision-making on the local level should be experimented in
the third year. The experimentation will consist of elaboration, innovation or adaptation
of one or more effective practices which has been identified by means of the previous
activities. Hypothetically, they could be codified procedures of decision-making shared by
women's associations, individuals, and institutional bodies on different levels. Decisions
may concern issues related to the government of the city: for example, a "theme
forum" on sexual violence, or pilot-project in the health field, as the project of
Region Marche about "non-hospitalised birth".
The experimentation, which will be discussed with the partners and in
public debates, aims at features that could make it in some way "exemplary" and
therefore can be transferred.
Partners
The project is promoted and co-ordinated by Orlando association, in
Bologna. It is implemented through a close co-operation with Italian and European
partners, which participate in every phase of the project, from the planning of activities
to their implementation and evaluation. The Co-operative PROSPECTA is responsible for the
case-study on the public health sector.
European partners
Derby City Council,
Derby, United Kingdom
Federación de
Organizaciones Feministas de Estado Español, Madrid, Spain
Kvinneuniversitetet et Studiesenter på
Kvinners Vilkår (Women’s University), Løten, Norvegia
Überparteiliche Frauen iniziative Berlin
Stadt der Frauen, Berlino, Germania
Italian partners
PROSPECTA-Cooperativa di ricerche
statistiche e sociali, Ancona
Centro Interdipartimentale di Women’s
Studies "Milly Villa", Università
della Calabria, Cosenza
Associazione"Almaterra" - Centro
interculturale di donne, Torino
"Crinali" Associazione di
Ricerca, Cooperazione e Formazione interculturale tra donne, Milano
Sponsors
and funding
The design of this school of politics is contained in the program of the
"Orlando" Women’s Association, which is at the basis of the agreement with
the Municipality of Bologna. Given the European dimension of this school, the project, has
been granted a fund by the DG V of the European Commission within the framework of the Medium-Term Fourth Community Action Program on Equal
Opportunities for Men and Women. The actions concerning the public health sector are
co-funded and supported by the Commissions for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men of
the Regione Marche and the Provinces Ancona, Macerata and Ascoli Piceno.
 
For
further information please contact:
Fernanda Minuz, project leader
Associazione di donne Orlando - Bologna
via Galliera 8 - 40121 Bologna - Italy
tel. ++39-(0)51-233863 fax ++39-(0)51-263460
Project by Marzia Vaccari
Graphics design and Html by Piera Morselli
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