Processes of diversification and professionalization which have characterised much of social movement sector in Ireland in the past two decades have had specific implications for feminist activism enabling a mainstreaming of the women's movement as it became integrated with the state machinery as a form of state feminism. Feminist activists and femocrats can be credited with successfully publicizing many previously stigmatized issues and securing state support for equality, contraception legislation and funding for a variety of women's services. However, conflicts over divisive issues have disallowed any long-term cohesiveness among women’s organizations from forming, and the history of the women's movement is marked more by fragmentation than cohesiveness. This paper maps the organizational field of feminist activism in 21st century Ireland exploring patterns of contest and cooperation that exist across the spectrum of Irish women’s organizations. Issues explored include feminist-state relations, generational relations between “waves” of the movement.
