This article builds on ethnographic research concerning the Italian pro-life movement and argues for the use of intersectionality theory in studying conservative women. The article suggests, first, that understanding conservative movements necessitates linking their political claims to the social identities of their activists, as would be the case for any other social movement (e.g., feminism). These social identities are as complex and intersectional as any other: a white, upper-class pro-life activist is no less intersectional than a black feminist from a poor background. Concomitantly, there is no unique feminism, but rather a plurality of feminisms, a diversity that intersectionality facilitates the identification of. The same is true for pro-life movements, but scholars tend to use the singular form to talk about conservatism; in this article, I explore the use of the plural to show that pro-life women do not constitute a monolithic group. On the contrary, these women are diverse in terms of their reproductive stories, their working status, and their class, race, and sexual practices, and this diversity translates into different ways of being pro-life. Second, recognizing this complexity does not suggest a natural link between feminism and conservatism. Alternatively, I suggest that a better understanding of conservative women can only be reached if they are studied on their own terms.

Studies of the pro-life movement have invariably been undertaken in relation to the pro-choice movement. The stress on comparison has tended to homogenize the two sides, thus understating their internal differences. This article extends beyond an analysis bounded by a movement―countermovement dichotomy. Based on ethnographic data and on the Italian case, it considers several questions that arise from revealing the intramovement divisions at various levels. First, there are tensions relating to the relationship between orthodoxy and institutionalized politics: how far, if at all, should there be doctrinal compromises in exchange for influence over public policy? Secondly, the conflicts over modes of action. In this respect, should protests be visible in public spaces, and if so how? These two issues govern the tense relationship between the <em>Movimento per la Vita</em> and more radical groups. Thirdly, the issue that divides the <em>Movimento </em>itself; the ongoing dialogue over the attitude to be taken towards contraception, and thus sexuality. At the heart of these intramovement struggles is the definition of what a ‘real’ pro-life movement is, and how a ‘real’ pro-life movement should mobilize. This article reveals a complex and highly fragmented image of the pro-life movement that, like every social movement of a certain size, is heterogeneous in its demographic composition, objectives and strategies. To show this complexity, the article adopts an emic approach that does not limit itself to a reading of conservative movements through the eyes of progressive movements.

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RésumésRevendiquant depuis 1995 l’indépendance de l’Italie septentrionale, rebaptisée Padanie, le parti italien de la Ligue du Nord s’est employé à réécrire l’histoire nationale : non seulement parce qu’il produit un récit nettement séparé pour le Nord et pour le Sud, mais aussi parce qu’il tire les conséquences politiques d’une histoire ainsi construite. S’il affirme que, au XIXe siècle, l’unité nationale n’a pas été le fruit de la volonté populaire, c’est pour démontrer qu’aujourd’hui l’Italie n’a pas de raisons d’être. Outil déconstructionniste concernant l’Italie, l’histoire devient, à propos de la Padanie, un instrument structurant. Il s’agit de souligner l’ancienneté de la communauté padane et d’affirmer sa différence structurelle avec le sud du pays. Dans un tel contexte, les historiens, considérés comme des « intellectuels de régime » parce qu’ils nient l’existence de la Padanie et confrontés à l’instrumentalisation possible de leur oeuvre, sont obligés de se repositionner. En effet, comment produire aujourd’hui une analyse critique de l’unité italienne, ce qui était le fait de l’historiographie liée à la gauche, sans pour autant légitimer l’indépendantisme padan ?

El presente análisis crítico no busca discutir textos sobre un mismo tema. Más bien propone articular una serie de trabajos con distintos puntos de vista2: un texto teórico de Rogers Brubaker; los estudios sobre la sociohistoria de la burocracia desde el Antiguo Régimen a nuestros días, reunidos por Gérard Noiriel; una sociología de las imágenes regionales del siglo XVIII al XX, realizada por Jean-Claude Chamboredon y Annie Méjean, así como una etnografía de los jóvenes rurales en los campos contemporáneos por Nicolas Renahy. A partir de estos textos deseamos revisitar diversas nociones que los caracterizan: identificación, en los textos de Noiriel; imagen social, en aquellos de Chamboredon y Méjean; y pertenencia, en los de Renahy. Nuestro interés es mostrar que estas nociones, si se toman en conjuntoy no aisladamente, permiten superar el concepto tan problemático de identidad.