Gender Relations in German History: Power, Agency and Experience from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century - Hardcover

"[The] theoretical emphasis brings a welcome change to the field of social history. . . . [T]his volume show[s] the workings of gender and power in contexts as diverse as religious life, the law courts, the battlefield, and the physician's office." --Mary Jo Maynes," American Historical Review" "This fascinating collection of essays offers a window into the process of German history in the making. . . . The field of German history awaits further studies that carry on the work of the accomplished authors of these ten path-breaking essays." --Sara Lennox, "German Politics and Society" "["Gender Relations in German History"] represents a welcome attempt at transcending the boundaries of 'periods' within individual disciplines. . . . [A] fruitful example of historians talking to historians." --"Sixteenth Century Journal" "The contributors are all adept in their specialties and their essays are interesting, informative, and . . . fascinating." --Isabel V. Hull, "Central European History"

This collection of essays by scholars from England, Germany, and the United States brings together important and innovative work on gender relations in German history from the early modern period to the 1950s. Offering fresh insights and challenging interpretations, the essays demonstrate how the norms of political, social, and sexual behavior for both sexes are the objects of regulation and control, and are matters of conflict, debate, and negotiation. A substantial introduction reviews the historiography relating the major themes of the collection. Topics include childbirth, abortion, and the female body in early modern Germany; the roots of German feminism; gender, class, and medicine during World War I and during the Weimar republic; female homosexuality during the Nazi period; East and West German reconstruction following World War II and the formation of a gendered consumer culture. This book will stimulate readers to think more deeply about the importance of gender in German history, and prove to be an invaluable resource for those interested in women's studies and in German and European history. Contributors. Lynn Abrams, Elizabeth Harvey, Dagmar Herzog, Kate Lacey, Katherine Pence, Ulinka Rublack, Claudia Schoppman, Regina Schulte, Cornelie Usborne, Heide Wunder