Women and Socialism - Socialism and Women: Europe Between the World Wars

Published by Berghahn Books 1998

Women and Socialism - Socialism and Women

Europe Between the World Wars

Edited by: Helmut Gruber , Pamela Graves and ontributors

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781785330063

Overview
Contents

About this book

Until recently, histories of women tended to be segregated from the larger historical context. This pioneering volume places the role of women within the history of the interwar years, whenboth the women's and socialist movements became prominent, and raises the key question of how power was distributed between the genders in a historical setting. The emblematic title of this volume highlights the fundamental conception of this comparative study of eleven West European countries: that in the interwar decades two great movements gained in strength, converged, diverged, competed, and cooperated. Each of these movements is viewed as acomplex matrix of organized and unorganized participants. However, by far the most provocative questions deal with gender relations. Central to these are definitions of femininity and masculinity in terms of mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion at the workplace, in the home, and in the political arena. The mystique of the "new woman" in the 1920s and the 1930s challenged traditional notions of gender identity and relations, not the least of which was the redefinition of the role of men. The main issue addressed in this volume is not how male socialists "dealt with" the woman question or how women functioned in or outside left-wingparties; it rather centers on illustrating the power distribution between the sexes in specific political and cultural contexts. This rigorously focused and coherent volume, to which some of the best-known scholars in the field have contributed, will no doubt establish itself as the standard reference work for years to come.

Author / Editor information

Helmut Gruber is Charles S. Baylis Professor of History emeritus, Polytechnic University, New York, and co-editor of International Labor & Working-Class History.

Pamela Graves was Emeritus of European History at Eastern Michigan University. She taught classes in European women's history, European social and intellectual history, and the history of England. Her publications include Labour Women: Women in British Working-Class Politics, 1918-1939 (Cambridge University Press, 1994)

Contributors: Michelle Perrot, Ida Blom, Ulla Jansz, Denise DeWeerdt, Mary Nash, Renée Frangeur, Hilda Romer Christensen, Adelheid von Saldern, Geoff Eley, Jean-Louis Robert, Atina Grossmann, Pamela Graves, Christine Bard, Mary Gibson, Helmut Gruber, Louise Tilly.

Helmut Gruber is Charles S. Baylis Professor of History emeritus, Polytechnic University, New York, and co-editor of International Labor & Working-Class History.

Reviews

"Packs in all you wanted to know about the left and women during this fraught period." · American Historical Review

"This important collection ... provides a great deal of empirical information as well as interesting theoretical reflections. The breadth of the studies is impressive." · Central European History

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Photo Essays Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
List of Acronyms Publicly Available Download PDF	xii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Introduction Helmut Gruber and Pamela Graves Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1914: Great Feminist Expectations Michelle Perrot Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Part I. Social Experiments
Introduction Atina Grossmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
1. The “New Woman”: Realities and Illusions of Gender Equality in Red Vienna Helmut Gruber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
2. Modernization as Challenge: Perceptions and Reactions of German Social Democratic Women Adelheid von Saldern Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
3. German Communism and New Women: Dilemmas and Contradictions Atina Grossmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Part II. Grassroots Initiatives
Introduction Pamela Graves Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
4. An Experiment in Women-Centered Socialism: Labour Women in Britain Pamela Graves Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
5. Gender and Democratic Socialism in the Netherlands Ulla Jansz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
6. Bread and Roses: Pragmatic Women in the Belgium Workers’ Party Denise De Weerdt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
Part III. Political Fractures
Introduction Mary Gibson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269
7. French Women in the Crossfire of Class, Sex, Maternity and Citizenship Helmut Gruber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
8. The French Communist Party and Women 1920-1939: From “Feminism” to Familialism Christine Bard and Jean-Louis Robert Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
9. “Ideals of Redemption”: Socialism and Women on the Left in Spain Mary Nash Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	348
10. Women and the Left in the Shadow of Fascism in Interwar Italy Mary Gibson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	381
Part IV. Prelude to Welfare States
Introduction Ida Blom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	415
11. Social Democrats and the Woman Question in Sweden: A History of Contradiction Renée Frangeur Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	425
12. A Double Responsibility: Women, Men, and Socialism in Norway Ida Blom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	450
13. Socialist Feminists and Feminist Socialists in Denmark 1920-1940 Hilda Romer Christensen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	478
Part V. Reflections
14. Women, Citizenship, and Power Louise A. Tilly Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	507
15. From Welfare Politics to Welfare States: Women and the Socialist Question Geoff Eley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	516
List of Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	547
Indexes
Name Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	551
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	553
Subject Index by Country Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	557

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 450
Keywords: Gender Studies and Sexuality; History: 20th Century to Present

eBook

Published: January 1, 1998
ISBN: 9781785330063