Health centers

Memory and legacies of a feminist practice

Abstract

This article explores contemporary experiences of self-managed feminist and transfeminist health centers (consultorie) in Italy, analyzing their relationship with the legacy of the 1970s. The first self-managed feminist health centers emerged during that decade, embodying a radical critique of patriarchal medicine and enacting the feminist reclaiming of knowledge about the body. The use of this practice gradually declined following the establishment of public family health centers (consultori familiari) in 1975. In the last decade, new self-managed experiences have appeared in Italy that draw from and transform the 1970s model, often adapting it through a transfeminist lens. This article investigates the revival of this practice and the relationship with the past that such a gesture embodies, questioning the interplay between memory, legacies, and innovation within feminist and transfeminist movements. The case of self-managed health centers highlights a dual relationship with the legacies of the 1970s. On the one hand, these centers represent a model of grassroots, peer-based health care to be revitalized, particularly in response to the growing depoliticization of public family health centers. On the other hand, reviving a practice from the past provides an opportunity for a critical engagement with feminist legacies, reinterpreted through a transfeminist perspective. The analysis conducted in this article challenges the linear model of feminist “waves,” instead revealing the coexistence of continuity and innovation in the relationship with the past. Drawing on in-depth interviews and document analysis, the article examines how today’s self-managed health centers in Italy relate to their political genealogy, exploring the role of collective memory.

Keywords: feminist movements, collective memory, health centers, transfeminism, health.