Volume 21, Number 1, 2008, p. 1-212Spécial du vingtième anniversaire de la revue

Twenty Years of Recherches féministes

This article, written on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Recherches féministes, establishes, first of all, the context in which the journal was founded. It then discusses its specificity, its character at once scientific, multidisciplinary, francophone, international, and feminist. Statistics are used to establish the quantitative achievement (number of issues, articles, and authors and their provenance, etc.). Emphasis is also put on the journal as a strategic locus for demonstrating what is at stake in feminist issues, as a vehicle for empirical research on the question and as a tribune for women seeking to publish the results of their research. Finally, the text seeks to indicate the principal themes and problematics addressed in the journal over the years. This balance-sheet reveals the contribution that Recherches féministes has made during the last twenty years in indicating the extent and the quality of the corpus of feminist work and in addressing and in deepening understanding of social relations. New concepts, new approaches, and original methods have emerged from this exchange of ideas and this can only profit all those who are interested in feminist scholarship and seek to advance it.

Man, Woman, Individuality, Citizenship

In our societies, individual and individuality are basic to citizenship : there is no citizen without individuality; the citizen is an individual. However, within social and political philosophy that defines modern societies, relation to individuality is thought differently for men and women. This article explores the foundation of the relation between individuality and citizenship, choosing a gendered interpretation. This exercise throws new light on stakes that nourish the men-women relation in modern democracies.

Women’s Citizenship and Historical Experience

Refering to the "historical expericence" defined by Gauchet (2007), this text, from the present time, examines propositions found in Anne-Marie Daune-Richard’s article "Homme, femme, individualité et citoyenneté" in order to impel the debate on issues that it raises. It engages us not to consider women as a unified category and to plead for a deepening in feminist research of the distinctions to draw between private and domestic as well as between public and what is family-related.

"Jeanne Lapointe : An art and an ethic of dialogues"

This article intends to acknowledge Jeanne Lapointe (1915-2006) first literature professor at Laval University (1940-1987), as an intellectual, an architect of the Quiet Revolution, and as a key figure of the feminist movement in the Province of Québec. Jeanne Lapointe is particularly known for her exceptional involvement in two decisive Royal Inquiry Commissions : the Parent Report (1961-1966) about education in the Province of Québec, and the Bird Report (1967-1970) on women’s condition in Canada. She also received the first Elsie-Gregory-MacGill Award in 1986 for her dedication in feminist and multi-disciplinary activities. Within the scope of this article, we will mainly focus on the unknown aspects of her career, which were revealed after her death with the creation of the Jeanne Lapointe funds (at the Laval University archives) and Claudia Raby’s research "Le parcours critique de Jeanne Lapointe" (2007). Jeanne Lapointe’s lifework allows us to better measure her contribution to Canadian and Québec societies, modern literature, and postmodern thinking. Her collaboration to the Cité Libre magazine, and to the critique and life of the Québec literature had major impacts. Her dissertation "Humanisme et humanités", presented in May 1958, showed her foresight and audacity, especially when considering the position of the academic institution at the time. Her passion for literature and the world of education, her constant concern about dialogue, her fervent feminism and her ethical sensibility are thus enriched.

A Feminist Interpretation of Foucault’s "care of the self" : Returning towards the Differentiated Culture of Feminine Gender

This article refers to the third volume of Michel Foucault’s research on the history of sexuality, entitled Le souci de soi. It looks for an analogous relationship between the "typically masculine relation to the self", versus the "typically feminine relation to the other". In Le souci de soi, Foucault makes a demonstration of knowing-power techniques (sexual self-disciplines among others things) by which Stoïciens of the Classical era were able to reach self-control with regard to power, to reach Truth, following a spiritual type conversion of their being, and to stand out as subjects of their own history. This "life art" (strictly masculine) nonetheless required devoted support from women and was realized, by consequence, through them. Thus, in his study of the sexuality of ancient moral culture, Foucault seems, on the one hand, to negate the history of feminine sexuality and, on the other hand, to ignore the existence of the patriarchal matrix of which feminine sexuality was based on; as a result, he avoids the very notion of gender. As a response to the culture of the self that he studies, this article introduces the proposition that there is a feminine relation to the world that at all times has carried the "female" individual to self realization by and with the other. Also, to shed light on the feminist debate that engulfs the different appropriations of Foucault’s theoretical heritage, the article seeks to locate the "woman subject" at the core of a materialistic feminist reflection, supported by an ethical approach in retreat of the identity preoccupations that characterizes "third feminist wave" gender studies.

An Interview with Huguette Dagenais, First Editor of the Journal "Recherches féministes"

Co-founder and Director of the journal (from spring 1998 to autumn 1997), Huguette Dagenais is interviewed by Marie-José des Rivières and Simona Mancini concerning the journals’ initial history, the financial support received, the research work reported therein, as well as the synergy due to interdisciplinary feminist collaboration. The interview covers a variety of crucial issues encountered during the first ten years of the magazine; language debates, themes, approaches and methods adopted, controversies faced, and seminal research work, along with the various feminist "bons coups" (humour, cover page design, international magnitude). The interview ends with a glimpse at present and future challenges, among which the question of online publication.

Looks on Feminist Paradigms in Research

Eight professors were invited to answer three questions on the apparition, the variety and the future of feminist paradigms in research. They come from different universities, different disciplines and different generations. This discussion is called "virtual", because the participants have never met. The dialogue presented has been fabricated with the answers received. It reveals contrasted opinions, from optimism to pessimism, about the influence of feminist paradigms on the whole of learned research.

Québec, a Genealogical Paradise and a Patriarcal Den : where are the Feminists?

In spite of the fact that women have made giant steps in many different fields for the recognition of their equality, genealogy and family history, leisure activities increasing in popularity, remain paradoxically domains submitted to a patriarchal theory and practice. The main reason being the constant orientation on the patronymics inherited from the father figure. Thereby women have no ancestry of their own. This situation perpetuates the non-recognition of the women’s importance as mothers by keeping them invisible. This text suggests a feminist critique of the situation, focussing on transmission of family name since the revision of the Civil code of Québec in 1981. Starting from this analysis, I suggest to bring to life the other half of the world of uterine lineage by its uterine pioneer, as well as the uterine ancestry, all of this with the aim of putting as much emphasis on women as on men in genealogy and family history. Few paths within feminist research are suggested to bring this claim forward.

Pro-Feminist Men : Fellow Travellers or False Friends

The goal of this essay is to analyze the pro-feminist male’s problematic and paradoxical political position, in his relation with women in general and feminists in particular. It starts by recalling very briefly some problems with the unconvincing involvement of some pro-feminist males at the end of the 19th century and during the 20th century. Then, and taking its cues from radical and materialist feminists such as Christine Delphy, it highlights the fact that even with the best intentions, pro-feminist males are still males, i.e. they are privileged as males. Therefore, it is suggested that pro-feminist males engage themselves in a process of 'disempowerment'. In reference to the distinction between "power over" (domination) and "power to" (capacity to act), disempowerment is defined as a process through which males should work on themselves to limit the power they have – individually and collectively – over women and over feminists. We conclude by recalling that despite their good faith, the involvement of pro-feminist males with female feminist activists is always potentially problematic. Beyond males’ (good) intentions, it is through collective action that feminists can build relations of power that will push some males to become pro-feminist and limit the negative effects of males’ involvement on their side.

From Feminizing Titles to Using Gender-Neutral Wording : A Look at Linguistic Equality

In this article, Hélène Dumais, a linguist and non-sexist writing specialist, has compiled the thoughts of eight language specialists on linguistic equality in the French language. By means of a questionnaire, they were asked to voice their opinion on the current situation in their country, if it is progressing or stagnating, what initiatives the rising generations have taken and the future of linguistic equality, among other issues. It seems that the feminization of titles is progressing slowly, but surely (with some titles already established) while making the female presence known in texts is receiving mixed reactions. According to the experts, awareness-raising, education and political will are the keys to attaining linguistic equality.