The UAB leads a project to reshape the narratives on female antitotalitarian resistance in Europe

Consorci del WIRE

This week, the UAB Research Park played host to the first meeting of the international project WiRE, which for the next two years will organise events aimed at changing the collective imagination of the role of women in resistance movements in Spain, Italy, Poland and Greece. The project is coordinated by Javier Rodrigo Sanchez, lecturer of the UAB Department of Modern and Early Modern History.

01/02/2023

When analysing collective narratives and imaginations on antitotalitarian resistance in Europe, one issue that stands out is the scarce interest put on the role of women. With few exceptions, women were normally relegated to a secondary and subsidiary role in the resistance movements. This is why the WIRE project, funded by the European Union, aims to place the role of women, both as agents and as victims, in the centre of the current historical narratives of antitotalitarian resistance in Europe, to assist in the reshaping of Europe's historical memory and associated values.

The WIRE consortium, coordinated by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, includes cultural institutions, victims' organizations, research and archive institutes, universities, commemorative and learning spaces, and museums from four countries: the Villa Decius Association, from Poland; the Scuola di Pace di Monte Sole, from Italy; the Archives of Contemporary Social History (ASKI), from Greece, and the Democratic Memorial, from Catalonia.

For two years, these entities will organize activities aimed at establishing a link between academic knowledge of the role of women in resistance movements and the promotion of historical awareness among citizens. Together with the students who will participate in the activities of the project, women who participated in different resistance movements in Europe will be identified, their memories will be reconstructed and they will be publicly known.

By using innovative methodologies, such as the generation of digital tools, non-conventional forms of dissemination to reach the wider community, and scholarly verification of historical, educational and technical aspects, WiRE will contribute to scholarly and public knowledge of the history and memory of women's participation in the anti-totalitarian resistance.