Gendering European History through Oral History: Pioneering Women in Luxembourg International Relations

After the Second World War, as Luxembourg abandoned its neutrality and engaged in international multilateralism and European integration, it adopted a new foreign policy that enabled women to embark on careers related to international relations, as Members of the European Parliament, of the Commission, or as technocrats and experts. Analysing the involvement of women in European and international relations in Luxembourg is a difficult task given the absence of systematic archive sources (the diplomatic archives of the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry deposited in the National Archives only cover the period up to 1973) and the fact that the topic has thus far received little attention in international and national historiography . In this context, oral history is not only a novel methodological tool; it is also the most appropriate source considering our objectives years remained exclusively male-dominated. By conducting an oral history project (2021-2025) consisting of semi-structured filmed interviews with remarkable women from a range of backgrounds , we will attempt to elucidate their role in the sphere of European and international relations in Luxembourg by tracing their careers and life stories.