Women on the Move, a Unique International Network

Women’s Life Saving Corps in Action

Women on the Move, an EU-funded international research network focusing on unveiling the presence and economic contribution of women migrants in the construction of Europe, led by Marie Ruiz, associate researcher at LARCA (UMR 8225 CNRS/Université Paris Cité), and hosted at Université Paris Cité, has been selected by the European agency COST.

A unique network

Women on the Move is a transdisciplinary network of international researchers launched in September 2020 for a 4-year period, until September 2024. It gathers around 100 historians, economists, sociologists, anthropologists and specialists in migration and gender from more than 40 countries. Its objective is to show the presence and economic contribution of migrant women in the history of Europe. Women on the Move proposes a multidimensional and multifactorial interpretation of the history of migration and covers six centuries up to the present day. The aim is to contradict the macro narratives on the vulnerability of women migrants, sometimes perceived as economic burdens in the welcoming societies, highlighting their resources as well as their social and cultural networks.

Objectives

Women on the Move aims to reach several goals. Its objectives are to launch a series of books; create an online European repository of primary sources on women’s migration, create a map of monuments commemorating migrant women; film a documentary; organize exhibitions (virtual, street and museum) to raise public awareness of the presence of women in the history of European migration; mobilize quantitative and qualitative data to show the contribution of migrant women to the European economy.

In line with the European Union Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2018-2023, Women on the Move will thus deconstruct the gender stereotypes that have marked the history of European migration. Its partners include, among others, the World Bank and the United Nations University for Peace.

Women on the Move is LARCA’s second COST project, following Who cares in Europe? led by Clarisse Berthezène, Professor of Contemporary British History and Vice President of the Executive Board of Université Paris Cité. This project, launched in 2019, aims to explore the relationship between the family, the associative sector and the government in the building of social protection in Europe.

The COST Action

Launched in 1971, COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a research funding scheme integrated into the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program. COST is dedicated to the funding of research networks including cooperative activities such as workshops, conferences, training schools, short-term scientific missions and dissemination and communication activities. These networks provide a space for collaboration between researchers across Europe and thus aim to give impetus to research, innovation and cooperation between European countries, in interaction with international partner countries.