RETHINKING DOMESTICITY: WOMEN’S EMANCIPATION AND COHOUSING IN 1970s-80s Belgium The Abreuvoir study case

Malinverni, Marta
(2025) ENHR 2025 — Location: Paris (30.June.2025)

Files

PRESENTATIONENHR030725.pdf
  • Restricted Access
  • Adobe PDF
  • 12.16 MB
Request a copy

Details

Authors
Abstract
In Belgium during the early 1970s, pioneer cohousing projects emerged advocating alternative living arrangements. These initiatives, typically comprising small communities of ten to twenty households, fostered collaborative ways of living and challenged dominant economic and housing paradigms. Beyond redefining residential models, they also played a key role in reshaping gender roles by promoting women's autonomy, redistributing domestic responsibilities, and expanding their role within their households, their communities, and society as a whole. This study examines the extent to which cohousing initiatives genuinely contributed to women’s emancipation, adopting a two-generation retrospective perspective. A dual methodological approach is employed, combining architectural analysis of selected case studies with ethnographic research. It assesses whether these resident-driven initiatives effectively promoted gender equity and the redistribution of domestic labour. By evaluating both their successes and limitations, this research explores how collective living arrangements restructured family dynamics, supported feminist objectives, and contributed to enduring social transformations. The findings reveal that cohousing projects enabled women to challenge traditional domestic roles, engage in more equitable communal living, and cultivate independent lives beyond the home through the structural and social dynamics of their dwellings. A feminist analytical lens highlights how shared spaces in Belgian cohousing projects of the 1970s and 1980s fostered a broader cultural shift toward gender equity and collective empowerment. However, sustaining these egalitarian ideals over time posed significant challenges. This study thus offers insights into the long-term impact of cohousing on gender roles and its continued relevance for contemporary debates on alternative living models.
Affiliations

Citations

  • APA
  • Chicago
  • FWB

Malinverni, M. (2025). RETHINKING DOMESTICITY: WOMEN’S EMANCIPATION AND COHOUSING IN 1970s-80s Belgium The Abreuvoir study case. ENHR 2025, Paris. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/267855