Symposium: “No Uprising Without Women: On the Future of the Forgotten Female Revolutionaries”

Starting with the 17th century, forms of resistance by women from various eras and perspectives are identified and discussed. The goal is to identify ways to sustainably pass on women’s moral courage to future generations.

The Courage to Make History – from history to HERstory
This year’s edition of the communale oö 2026 art and culture festival is dedicated to a pivotal chapter in the region’s history: the Upper Austrian Peasants’ War of 1626. The theme will be explored in a wide variety of ways across the region—starting from the roots of the past and branching out far into the present and future. Courage, freedom, and resistance remain the defining themes of that era, even 400 years later. Shaped by the individual fates of men and recounted in heroic myths, these narratives often remain unquestioned to this day.
The “communal oö 2026” initiative also aims, under the theme of“commemoration,” to provide “space for memories, the preservation of history and traditions, and reflection.” But what is there to preserve when we are barely present in Europe’s collective memory? When women—then as now—are excluded from decision-making and their commitment to social justice remains invisible?

Resistance was and is feminine. Without HERstory, there is no complete HIStory. From the Peasants’ Wars through the French Revolution to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement —women were and are indispensable actors in historical upheavals: as leaders, organizers, accomplices, and rebels. They risked—and continue to risk—their lives in the struggle for political participation and religious self-determination. Yet their contribution is scarcely embedded in the collective consciousness.

Symposium “No Uprising Without Women.”
The interdisciplinary symposium “No Uprising Without Women: On the Future of Forgotten Female Revolutionaries” brings them out of the shadows and shines a spotlight on female protest and activism. Because: “Whoever controls history also controls the present and the future.”
(George Orwell)

Starting in the 17th century, the symposium explores forms of resistance by women across various eras. The goal: to find ways to sustainably pass on women’s moral courage to future generations. What challenges do different methods present? Do urban and rural uprisings differ? Are today’s protests truly more diverse than those of the past? Can universal mechanisms of resistance be identified? Are there cross-generational successes that can be celebrated together? What generally empowers women to stand up for their causes? Simply put: “What does the Peasants’ War of 1626 have to do with our reality today?”
Experts from fields including history, philosophy, theology, media and political science, activism, art, and business will join the audience in creating spaces for exchange and networking. The goal is to ensure that both past and present women resistance fighters receive the societal recognition they deserve in the future.

Participation: free
Register at: kulturabteilung@gmunden.ooe.gv.at

Side program: Starting at 7:00 p.m., the symposium invites you to the Hipphalle for the opening of the exhibition “Not Fit for Marketing – Women Farmers Beyond the Idyll” by the Artiné art association.

In cooperation with communale oö 2026.