Female scholars and politics. Influence of school socialization and conversion of activism into Women’s Studies (1960s-1980s)

Since Max Weber’s now well-known stand on the relationship between “science” and “politics”, little empirical work has been carried on how researchers relate to politics and how it may influence their choice of objects and research approaches. Based on the analysis of the life trajectories of nine female researchers formerly members of the “Groupe de Recherches Interdisciplinaire d’Étude des Femmes” (1979-1990, University of Toulouse-Le Mirail), this article addresses the intertwinement of political socialization and school and academic socialization in order to understand the gradual disengagement from activism of the women interviewed in favour of Women’s Studies. It first shows how their engagements are shaped by their school socialization, as they have interiorized “channelled” forms of political protest and an intellectualized relationship with contest within the school framework. Their participation in the “Groupe de Recherches” was then indicative of an academic socialization that led them to claim the autonomy of the scientific point of view and to disengage from activist groups. This stance may either constitute a renewed means of expressing their political relationship to the world or a way to foster an intellectualized relationship with political causes.