This dissertation, which lies at the crossroads between sociology of activism, social history of political ideas and gender studies, examines the appropriations of feminist theories within anti-authoritarian communities in Berlin and Montreal, in a comparative perspective. It is based on two ethnographic field researches that combine observations, biographical interviews and archives.
First, this work highlights the intellectual dimension of anti-authoritarian activism by showing that academic sphere and anti-authoritarian communities overlap. It also shows that the more isolated from the political life of their country anti-authoritarian activists are, the more they develop a prefigurative action repertoire, which aims at creating autonomous spaces. Furthermore, looking at how anti-authoritarian feminists articulate theory and practice, this thesis brings out three (heteronormalized, lesbian, or sexual-intersectional) appropriations of queer theory. It argues that appropriations of feminist theories are shaped by collective identity processes which define anti-authoritarian sub-communities as much as they participate in these processes. Finally, this work analyzes feminist mobilizations against sexual violence within anti-authoritarian communities. It focuses on the way materialist, queer and/or intersectional feminist theories are used by activists. In this context, it demonstrates that theories cannot be considered as isolated from practices: they are mostly interwoven with organization repertoires (women-only or gender-mixed groups) and action repertoires (offensive or pedagogical actions).