Association nationale des études féministes

The Association nationale des études féministes (ANEF) is a French non-profit association founded on 3 June 1989. Its purpose is to promote feminist and gender studies in France and internationally. It grew out of the feminist research movement of the 1970s and the institutionalisation of women's studies in French universities during the 1980s. The association brings together researchers, teachers and students working on women, feminism, sex and gender relations. It advocates for the creation of academic positions, research teams and programmes at all levels of education and in public and private research bodies. ANEF also engages in concerted action with regional, national and international authorities, and maintains exchange and solidarity among its members. At its founding it had 200 members. The association is active in European networks of women's and feminist studies, and its website publishes calls for papers, conference announcements and job openings in the field.

The Association nationale des études féministes (ANEF) was founded on 3 June 1989 in France. Its creation followed two decades of development in feminist and gender studies. In the 1970s, in the wake of the feminist movement, informal research groups emerged in French universities, including CEFUP in Aix-en-Provence, GEF at Paris 7, CLEF in Lyon, GRIEF in Toulouse and the Centre de recherches-politique-femmes in Nantes. These interdisciplinary groups challenged androcentric academic knowledge and the exclusion of women, organising debates, seminars and conferences, and publishing bulletins and journals such as Les cahiers du Grif (1973–1997), Questions féministes (1977–1981, later Nouvelles questions féministes from 1981) and La Revue d'en face (1977–1984). At the CNRS, a research unit on the social and sexual division of labour was recognised in 1978, later becoming GEDISST in 1982 and then GERS. In 1982, these groups organised the first national conference 'Femmes, Féminisme et Recherche', held from 12 to 14 December 1982 with support from the Ministry of Research, the Ministry of Women's Rights and the CNRS. It attracted over 800 participants, 144 papers and nearly 1,100 pages of proceedings, marking the beginning of the institutionalisation of feminist studies. Following the conference, the CNRS launched a thematic programme on feminist research and research on women, funding 68 projects over four years, while the Ministry of Women's Rights negotiated the creation of four associate professor positions in feminist studies. The Toulouse conference gave momentum to the creation of research associations. Due to divisions over institutionalisation and centralisation, regional associations were founded first, including the Association pour la Promotion des Études Féministes (APEF-Région Paris Île de France), the Conseil interrégional Femmes-Féminisme-Recherche (CIFFR), the Association Femmes, Féminisme, Recherches Rhône-Alpes (AFFRRA) and others in the PACA, Midi-Pyrénées and Centre regions. The debate on a national association was revived in 1988 after a European Parliament resolution on women and research, which asked member states to create chairs and specialised courses. A first European conference, 'Concepts et réalités des études féministes', organised in Brussels by Les Cahiers du Grif in 1989, highlighted the need for national associations to respond to the European Parliament and to build European networks of women's and feminist studies. At a conference on 'Les femmes et la Révolution' in Toulouse in 1989, the regional associations debated the creation of a national association. After long and difficult negotiations and compromises, notably on non-mixed membership, the Association nationale des études féministes was founded on 3 June 1989 with 200 members. Its founding objectives were to organise the feminist research community in order to influence institutions, whether political or academic, and to coordinate with other European associations. It aims to develop, disseminate and promote feminist teaching and research on women and on sex and gender relations by creating positions, teams and research programmes at all levels of education and in public and private teaching, training and research bodies. It pursues these goals through concerted action with regional, national and international authorities, and by maintaining relations of exchange, mutual respect and solidarity among its members.

• 1989

  Association nationale des études féministes founded on 3 June 1989 with 200 members.

• 1982

  First national conference 'Femmes, Féminisme et Recherche' held in France, marking the beginning of institutionalisation of feminist studies.

Non-profit academic association promoting feminist and gender studies and advocating for institutional recognition of the field.

1. 1ANEF – Association nationale des études féministesanef.org
2. 2Association nationale des études féministeswikidata.org
3. 3Association nationale des études féministesfr.wikipedia.org