The Society for Women in Philosophy was created in 1972 to support and promote women in philosophy. Since that time the Society for Women in Philosophy or "SWIP" has expanded to many branches around the world, including in the US, Canada, Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Flanders, and Germany. SWIP organizations worldwide hold meetings and lectures that aim to support women in philosophy; some, such as SWIPshop, focus exclusively on feminist philosophy, while others, such as SWIP-Analytic, focus on women philosophers working in other areas. One of the founding members of the Society for Women in Philosophy was Alison Jaggar, who was also one of the first people to introduce feminist concerns into philosophy. Each year, one philosopher is named the Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year by the Society for Women in Philosophy.
Archive
Some SWIP archive records were originally housed in the Sophia Smith Collection at the Smith College library (started in 1982 by Kathy Pyne Parsons Addelson following the 10th anniversary of SWIP). The official SWIP Archive will now be permanently housed in the Feminist Theory Archive, Pembroke Center, Brown University. The new SWIP home is the product of the efforts of the Feminist Philosophy Archive Project created in June 2013 and ending in July 2014. The main goal of the FPA Project team, composed of philosophers Joan Callahan, Ann Garry, Alison Jaggar, Sandra Harding, Christina Rawls, and Samantha Noll, was to locate and organize the best possible professional archive for over four decades of SWIP records to be preserved. As of December 2014, the American Philosophical Association awarded the Feminist Theory Archive, SWIP, and the FPAP organizing team financial assistance to aid in the processing and preservation of SWIP materials donated.
Branches
NYSWIP is a branch of SWIP based in New York. It was founded in 1993. It aims to feature the scholarly work of women philosophers. To this end, it holds the Sue Weinberg Lecture Series, SWIPshop, and SWIP-Analytic. P-SWIP is a branch of SWIP based in the American Pacific. CSWIP is a branch of SWIP based in Canada. CSWIP supports women in philosophy, fosters feminism in philosophy and philosophy in feminism. SWIP Ireland is a branch of SWIP based in Ireland. SWIP Ireland aims to "promote philosophy by women, raise awareness of problems faced by women in the discipline, facilitate co-operation between women in philosophy in the Island of Ireland, create links with women philosophers in other countries, promote research by and on women philosophers, organise conferences and meetings on topic of interest to women philosophers". SWIP UK is a branch of SWIP based in the United Kingdom. SWIP UK is an organisation of UK students and professionals in philosophy. SWIP.NL is the Dutch branch of SWIP and supports women in philosophy in the Netherlands and Flanders. SWIP Germany is the German-language branch of SWIP and seeks to "advance the equal treatment of women and gender parity in philosophy". SWIP CH is the Swiss branch of SWIP and supports women in philosophy in Switzerland. SWIP CH is "a non-profit society with the aim to combat gender inequality in the field of philosophy".