This article is divided into two parts, each of which has its distinct and specific objectives. In the first part, I will perform a general reconstruction of the history of feminism, situating the movement within the larger process of modernity: my goal, in doing so, is precisely to put together a scenario which enables us to understand the movement as a force field shaping the latter decades of the 20th Century and the first few years of the 21st Century. In the second part, I look at a theoretical issue dealing with the relationship between women and power, in order to discuss the problem in both its specificities and the way in which it interacts with the complexity of struggles for power, particularly those pertaining to the realm of the political. I conclude by asserting the need to build a program for women's inclusion in political life which cannot be understood as the mere elaboration of material for political education or publicity campaigns, but rather, as a program to encourage women to make their voices heard, building spaces where they can speak up and out
feminist movement; history of feminism; power; women; politics