Publisher Description

Recent debates have used the concept of "transnational history" to broaden research on historical subjects that transcend national boundaries and encourage a shift away from official inter-state interactions to institutions, groups, and actors that have been obscured. This approach proves particularly fruitful for the dynamic field of global gender and women's history. By looking at the restless lives and work of women's activists in informal border-crossings, ephemeral NGOs, the lower management of established international organizations, and other global networks, this volume reflects the potential of a new perspective that allows for a more adequate analysis of transnational activities. By pointing out cultural hierarchies, the vicissitudes of translation and re-interpretation, and the ambiguity of intercultural exchange, this volume demonstrates the critical potential of transnational history. It allows us to see the limits of universalist and cosmopolitan claims so dear to many historical actors and historians.

Author Biography

Oliver Janz is Professor of Contemporary History at Freie Universität Berlin and has been Visiting Professor in Berne, Trento and Rome. He is editor-in-chief of 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. His recent publications include: Das symbolische Kapital der Trauer. Nation, Religion und Familie im italienischen Gefallenenkult des Ersten Weltkriegs (2009), Dolce Vita? Das Bild der italienischen Migranten in Deutschland (2011) and 14 - Der Große Krieg (2013).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Oliver Janz and Daniel SchönpflugChapter 1. Understanding international feminisms as 'transnational' – an anachronism? May Wright Sewall and the creation of the International Council of Women, 1889 to 1904
Karen OffenChapter 2. A forgotten instance of women's international organizing. The transnational feminist networks of the Women's Progressive Society (1890) and the International Women's Union (1893–1898)
Julie CarlierChapter 3. The national councils of women in France, Italy and Portugal. Comparisons and entanglements 1888-1939
Anne CovaChapter 4. A struggle over gender, class and the vote: unequal international interactions and the formation of the 'female International' of socialist women (1905-1907)
Susan ZimmermannChapter 5. How did women use the vote? Women and transnational politics in the twentieth century
Pat ThaneChapter 6. A transnational career? The republican and utopian politics of Frances Wright (1795–1852)
Jane RendallChapter 7. What is a transnational life? Some thoughts about Marguerite Thibert's career and life (1886–1982)
Françoise ThébaudChapter 8. Between nationalism and cosmopolitism: female opera singers in Britain and Germany in the first half of the nineteenth century
Gunilla BuddeChapter 9. Gender, class, race and sexuality: A transnational approach to legislation on venereal diseases, 1880s–1940s
Ida BlomChapter 10. Transgressing the colour line. Policing colonial 'miscegenation'
Birthe KundrusChapter 11. Sex drives, bride prices and divorces: Legal policy concerning gender relations in German Cameroon 1884–1916
Ulrike SchaperIndex

Review

"This rich and varied collection of essays, tied together by the editors' clear explanatory rationale, provides much evidence to support Janz's and Schonpflug's claim that a transnational perspective opens new lines of inquiry and insights for historians of international women's and gender history." · Women & Social Movements in the US"This volume is an important contribution to the transnational implications of gender history and shows the variety of potential areas of activities, indicating how much work still needs to be done… This collection makes clear that previous definitions of transnational women's history were too narrow and that far more perspectives can offer fruitful possibilities, going beyond the analysis of transnational institutions and their actors." · H-Soz-Kult"This collection of essays addresses important topics in the history of European feminisms. It goes beyond national histories to examine transnational contacts, comparisons, and transfers… The essays are by an interesting collection of authors, some already very well known in the field, and others promising junior scholars." · Ann Taylor Allen, University of Louisville

Review Quote

"This volume is an important contribution to the transnational implications of gender history and shows the variety of potential areas of activities, indicating how much work still needs to be done... This collection makes clear that previous definitions of transnational women's history were too narrow and that far more perspectives can offer fruitful possibilities, going beyond the analysis of transnational institutions and their actors." H-Soz-Kult "This collection of essays addresses important topics in the history of European feminisms. It goes beyond national histories to examine transnational contacts, comparisons, and transfers... The essays are by an interesting collection of authors, some already very well known in the field, and others promising junior scholars." Ann Taylor Allen, University of Louisville

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