In these last years the archives have echoed the greater awareness towards the
gender equality present in society and have promoted various initiatives in this regard
sense In the professional field it can be mentioned from symbolic actions such as Change of name of associations that use a more inclusive language (Association of Professional Archives, Libraries, Museums and Documentation Centers of Galicia (Bamad Galicia), or Association of Professionals in Archiving and Document Management of Catalonia); to more impactful actions such as the creation in 2021 of a Vocalía de Igualdad y Feminisms by Archiveros sin Fronteras España. In the academic field, the archival studies from a gender perspective have gained prominence. So they have proliferated articles and research works on the memory of feminisms, the gap of gender in the fund, the need to file in feminine and to preserve a memory plural The archives have also been involved in the organization of conferences and
dissemination activities to give prominence to women and their experiences, taking advantage of it
international women’s day
This sensitivity is a starting point for establishing gender equality policies
más calado both at the level of the archival system and at the level of each archive. from here We encourage the archives to consider the drafting of gender equality plans that keep in mind four areas: the preserved memory (the need to increase them women’s funds, about women and done by women, whether they belong to the feminist movement or of associations and institutions linked to women); policies and technical processes document management (electronic document management policies, valuation, acquisition, metadata,…); the management of the archive service (analysis of personnel and infrastructures); and, finally, the activation of the gender key documents. It is about
of “unarchiving the women”: that is, re-reading the documents and activating them in a feminist key
so that the work they have done throughout history emerges.
To do this they must start to make an X-ray of the current situation. The photograph will reveal that there are few personal funds of women, which the public archives have shamefully neglected the archives of feminism and the LGTBIQ collective (mainly attended by volunteers from the same collective), that its methodology of work is heteropatriarchal, that the policies of documentary evaluation as well as them methods of description have niguneado the activity of women, that there are more men that women in decision-making positions. Reversing this situation is a question of social justice that must be resolved, with policies consequential The archives and the professionals (they and them) must commit to work for the preservation and visibility of the memory of the less privileged and hidden groups by a patriarchal and androcentric vision. We cannot ignore the potential and the
responsibility of the archives to promote gender equality in society, al
preserve a memory that will be relevant for future generations and contribute to value
the contribution of women to society. It’s not a minor challenge, well, in short, we’re here
a question that transcends the technical field and is central to what concerns the archive
do you want to preserve memory? It should be a question of status as far as I know
It raises the question of what vision of today we bequeath to future generations.
Recent Comments