Project“Female perspectives on democratic transitions in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s”
The aim of the project “Female perspectives on democratic transitions in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s” is to bring people from different European countries together by celebrating those who stood up for democracy, freedom and diversity.
In its essence, the project sheds light on the brave women who played a key role on Europe’s path to democracy. These women bravely resisted political violence and opposed oppressive regimes and curtailment of human rights.
Three key areas
The project has three dimensions through which it will highlight the importance of democratic transitions in Europe.
First, it will offer insight into the involvement of women in democratic changes and social and political upheavals in Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Spain.
Second, the project has a strong educational dimension, implemented through a number of educational activities for young people and training for teachers.
Third, the project will develop an advocacy dimension that will engage European citizens, decision-makers and public officials in a dialogue on how to achieve gender equality in the understanding of history.
The project includes study visits, educational workshops for young people, public debates with citizens and MEPs, training for teachers and the conference “(In)visibility of women’s contribution to democratic transitions in Europe”.
Why the female perspectives?
Gender equality, when it comes to understanding history, is not a fad or a trend. We believe that it is necessary to offer a different model of interpretation of recent history, especially democratic transitions, and introduce a model that includes the views of women, who are mostly ignored by historiography and formal education.
Taking these aspects into account, we believe that it is important to address democratization, democratic transition with young people and encourage the rejection of autocracy and the violation of fundamental human rights.
Podcasts
As part of this project, we created a series of podcasts “Women’s perspectives on democratization”.
Podcasts give voice to the witnesses of time. During the research and in the conversations with the interlocutors, it became clear that there is a great need for educational content that deals with the processes of democratization and takes into account women’s experiences and views on past events.
Time Witnesses in Slovenia are: Antonija (Tončka) Senčar, dr. Spomenka Hribar, dr. Svetlana Slapšak and Nataša Serec.
Toolkit
The toolkit is the result of the work of five civil society organizations brought together by the project „Female perspectives on the democratic transitions in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s”
(@reshaping1989). The manual “Democratization Processes in Europe: Women’s Perspectives” offers new approaches to dealing with democratic transition for educators at the formal and informal level:
inclusion of women’s experience and their perspective, inclusion of small historical events at the local and community level, a comparative review of democratization processes in different European countries.
The main purpose of this toolkit is to offer methods that you can immediately use to deal with the democratic transition in Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Spain.
The workshops are intended for young people from the age of 16.
We hope that this handbook will be used in the work of youth workers, teachers and other educators working with young people on topics related to democratic transition and that it will increase the visibility of women’s contribution to democratization.
Recommendations for policy makers
This paper argues for a more inclusive and gender-balanced interpretation of modern history, particularly in relation to democratic transitions.
It offers good practices for promoting the role of women in these transitions and makes recommendations for incorporating gender-balanced narratives in formal and non-formal education.
Partner organizations of the project “Women’s Perspectives on Democratic Transitions in the 70s, 80s, and 90s”: Documenta (Croatia), Zavod APIS (Slovenia), The Future Now Association (Bulgaria), Lapsus (Italy), and Asociacion Las Ninas del Tul ( Spain), acronym FPDT, funded by the CERV-2022-CITIZENS-REM mechanism.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Project is cofunded by European Union.
