‘The Business is Political’: Des femmes Publishing House and the Question of Power in the French Women’s Liberation Movement (1972–1979)

Abstract

In 1972 a new publishing house was created by an activist group of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Paris: ‘Psychoanalysis and Politics’ (Psychanalyse et politique). Following an anti-capitalist and anti-sexist agenda, the aim was to publish all that was ‘repressed by the bourgeois publishing houses’ with a specific focus on women. Funded by the support of a wealthy activist, the group had the opportunity to invent an original business model inspired by a political vision and without any pressure to sell. The publishing house had an important role in providing ‘feminine literature’ and women’s struggles to a large audience with the publication of 150 books between 1974 and 1979, as well as a newspaper and a magazine. However, it was also at the heart of various conflicts within the Women’s Liberation Movement, resulting in trials, tensions deriving from conflicting political views, difficult working relations and competition between publishing houses. More deeply, it revealed the power generated by the possibility of printing. The creation of a trademark and an association in 1979 by the women at the head of the Éditions des femmes, was the climax of the entanglements between activism, business and power. Drawing from archives of ‘Les Éditions des femmes’ and the wider French feminist movement, this article will highlight the many ways in which the feminist publishing business in 1970s France was profoundly political.

Keywords:

• Feminism
• France
• publishing house
• history
• Éditions des femmes

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I was given access to the undeposited archives of Éditions des femmes, referred to in this article as ‘Private Archives, Éditions des femmes’.

2 “Éditer … Lire … Écrire … Dessiner … Traduire … Photographier … Penser … Faire … ”, [To Publish … To read … To write … To translate … to Photograph … To Think … To do..] Le Torchon Brûle n°3, Undated [October 1972], Personal translation.

3 Conference announcing the release of the first three books in Éditions des femmes’s Catalogue 1974–1979.

4 “Les éditions des femmes font peur aux hommes”, [Éditions des femmes publishing house scare men], France Soir, 7 February 1975.

5 Conference announcing the publication of the first three books, in Éditions des femmes’s Catalogue, 1974–1979.

6 I am choosing to call her by the pseudonym she gave herself and used in her public interventions throughout the 1970s.

7 Testimony in favour of Éditions des femmes at the trial against Barbara, Private archives Éditions des femmes.

8 “Le Licenciement de Barbara” [Barbara’s dismissal”], Le Monde, 20 May 1977.

9 Libération, 19 October 1976, signé par ‘sept femmes présentes au moment de l’occupation’ [signed by seven women present during the occupation of the bookstore].

10 Jeanne Favret, ‘Allonge-toi tu seras emballée’, [Lie down and you will be liberated], Libération, 27 October 1976.

11 ‘Barbara est déboutée de son action contre la société des femmes librairie’ [Barbara’s action against the women’s bookstore society has been dismissed], Le Monde, 27 June 1977.

12 Erin Pizzey had been herself at odds with elements of the UK Women’s Liberation Movement and was a controversial figure.

13 Bibliothèque La Contemporaine, Paris, F Delta 704-6.

14 A.F.P. du 22 June 1977, signed ‘Des femmes des éditions des femmes, pratique Psychanalyse et Politique’.

15 Private Archives, Éditions des femmes.

16 Bulletin du Livre n°378, 25 May 1979.

17 ‘Des Femmes répondent par la pratique’ [Des femmes respond by doing], Le Monde, 18 November 1977.

18 Journal Officiel de la République française, 26 September 1979.

19 Journal Officiel de la République française, 30 October 1979.

20 Samuel Lequette, Delphine Le Vergos (ed), Cours petite fille! #MeToo, #Timeisup #NoShameFist, Paris, des femmes-Antoinette Fouque, 2019.

21 ‘Antoinette Fouque un petit côté sectaire’, Le Figaro.fr, http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2008/10/09/01016-20081009ARTFIG00739-mlf-antoinette-fouque-a-un-petit-cote-sectaire-.php, 10-10-2008