Enabling or Hindering Resistant Knowledge? Comparing Interactions Between State and Anti-Violence Against Women Movements in Denmark and Italy

This chapter compares feminist anti-violence against women movements in Denmark and Italy as communities of resistance that produce politicized care practices and counter-hegemonic knowledge. Drawing on process tracing and distinguishing between policy and service programming, it examines how these movements have shaped state responses to violence against women while negotiating institutionalization and possible co-optation. The comparison shows that, in Denmark, the shift towards gender-neutral narratives has weakened the epistemic autonomy of the shelter movement. In Italy, by contrast, a gender-based framework has been formally consolidated, although feminist anti-violence centres continue to struggle against bureaucratic and performance-driven logics. The chapter highlights the trade-offs between institutional recognition, service stability, and feminist epistemic autonomy.