The cause of women in the state: a comparison between France and Quebec (1965-2007).

Summary This thesis examines the conditions of possibility and the modalities of advocacy for women in the state apparatus, based on a comparative study of governmental bodies whose official mission is to promote the status of women in France and in Quebec since the 1960s. Based on the archives of these bodies as well as on interviews with their leaders and staff, this research is part of a historical and comparative sociology of the State, integrating contributions from the sociology of law, gender and social movements. Beyond the analysis of the genesis and consolidation of the institutions studied, this thesis is interested in the way in which the cause of women is defined within them. From this point of view, the comparative analysis makes it possible to identify two distinct frames of reference for women's politics in France and Quebec, one focused on professional equality and the other on economic autonomy. These differences, insofar as they involve distinct relationships to family issues, can be linked to a different economy of relations between feminism and familialism in each socio-historical context. The comparative approach thus makes it possible to show how the balance of power and the variable relations between defenders of the cause of women and defenders of the cause of the family, both inside and outside the state (government bodies, social movements, producers of expertise), influence the definition of the cause of women in the state. This influence is first established through an analysis of the overall orientations of women's policy, and then through a more targeted study of the interventions of the bodies studied in the legal debates concerning the financial consequences of divorce (alimony, compensatory benefits, definition of matrimonial regimes).