Rocheton: Among the Voices of the French Revolution: Olympe de Gouges' Political and Legal Pamphlets

Julie Rocheton, Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, has published Among the Voices of the French Revolution: Olympe de Gouges’ Political and Legal Pamphlets as the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory Research Paper Series No. 2025-11. Here is the abstract.

This article explores the often overlooked political and legal pamphlets of Olympe de Gouges, a French revolutionary thinker whose contributions extend far beyond her renowned Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen. In her prolific writings between 1788 and 1793, de Gouges crafted a nuanced blueprint for social justice aimed at protecting vulnerable populations, advocated for women’s rights, and proposed progressive reforms in family and criminal law. Her work consistently foregrounded themes of equality, civic responsibility, and the moral obligation of the state to support its citizens, particularly those marginalized by poverty, gender, and social hierarchy. Throughout her writings, de Gouges was both ahead of her time and constrained by it. Her proposals embodied an Enlightenment-inspired belief in “natural law,” which she used to validate her ideas in the face of societal limitations on women’s intellectual contributions. While she championed equality, her moral framework sometimes restricted the inclusivity of her proposals, particularly in her critique of women. As a political thinker, her stance towards the monarchy was complex, sometimes even paradoxical. She initially advocated for a constitutional monarchy but adjusted her views as the revolution progressed, mirroring the complexities of the French population’s loyalties and the radical shifts of the revolutionary era. This study brings de Gouges’ political and social philosophies to light, assessing their historical impact and looking at her pamphlets as a coherent body of work in order to underscore her lasting legacy as a pioneering thinker.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Nicastro on Redefining Women's Subjectivity Between Law and Revolution: A Foucauldian Analysis of Olympe de Gouges' 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Female Citizen @alessia_ncs @GVAGrad

Alessia Nicastro, Geneva Graduate Institute, has published Redefining Women's Subjectivity Between Law and Revolution: A Foucauldian Analysis of Olympe de Gouges' 1791 Declaration of The Rights of Woman and Female Citizen. This paper has been accepted and presented by the author at the 11th International Conference on Gender and Women's Studies held on 13th July 2024 online, organized by the University of Mumbai, the International Center for Research and Development (ICRD), and Unique Conferences Canada. Here is the abstract.

This contribution investigates how Olympe de Gouges' "Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen” (1791) contributed to reshape women’s subjectivity in international law and to advance a feminist vision of this field. Drawing upon Foucault's notions of subject, power, and resistance, this paper analyses how De Gouges' Declaration functioned as a political and discursive tool that disrupted the dominant gender relations of power embedded in legal discourses of the time. By claiming women's equality and citizenship, de Gouges’ work paved the way to the recognition of women as both political and legal subjects. The author concludes that de Gouges' Declaration was pivotal for revealing the androcentric character of the embryonic human rights law (which were only les droits de l'homme) and for highlighting the inherent contradictions in the Revolutionary ideals of equality, citizenship, and freedom.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link.