Feminism and Motherhood in Western Europe, 1890-1970
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"How did maternal destiny morph into a "maternal dilemma"? To some 21st century readers, the pairing of feminism and motherhood may seem contradictory. Ann Allen's accomplishment is to dispell that seeming contradiction by unearthing a rich and important series of feminist debates about motherhood, which she then analyzes within a comparative, transnational framework. From the 1880s to 1970, progressive women and men throughout western Europe addressed the benefits and handicaps imposed on women as mothers in male-controlled economies and nation-states. They came up with very radical answers and creative, sometimes conflicting solutions that had the potential to empower mothers independently of husbands and fathers or to establish egalitarian male-female partnerships, in either case seriously threatening the prevailing male legal and economic hegemony. Can one then be surprised that their woman-centered proposals stirred up serious opposition? Can one wonder that, subsequently, their ideas about constructing woman-friendly welfare states became distorted in application, before being threatened (as is the case today) with dismemberment? Allen's book is exceedingly important for understanding the history of European nations precisely because it insists on the centrality of gender and the politics of reproduction to "mainstream" history. It illuminates today's ongoing debates, including those in the United States, about the "dilemma" women still face in trying to combine family and employment within the "clockwork of the male career," as Arlie Hochschild once put it. It likewise provides rich background for understanding the current controversies that swirl around popular novels that resuscitate the "female principle,"such as The Da Vinci Code. To read this book is truly to experience an "Ah Haa!"moment."--Karen Offen, Institute for Research on Women & Gender, Stanford University
"In this outstanding addition to the burgeoning new history of motherhood, Ann Taylor Allen explores the "motherhood dilemmna" faced by modern women, families, and states. Grounded in thorough knowledge of multiple national histories, feminist movements, and intellectual trends, this book is filled with important information and interesting tales that show how women have faced and sought to resolve conflicts between their responsibilities as mothers and as rights-bearing individuals. The history of motherhood belongs as a topic on every syllabus in women's history and cultural studies, and this book shows why."--Marilyn J. Boxer, Professor of History Emerita, former Vice-President of Academic Affairs, San Francisco State University.
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“This book is an ambitious, deeply researched, comparative history of how feminists have addressed the ‘maternal dilemma’. The ‘maternal dilemma’ for Ann Taylor Allen comprises the question: ‘Is it possible to be both a mother and an autonomous individual?’ This book is exciting and new because of its wide-ranging sources and broad, comparative focus, which includes England, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and elsewhere. This is a western European history in the fullest sense and it indicates an impressive command of many histories and historiographical questions.”—European History Quarterly
Product Description
Motherhood and citizenship are terms that are closely linked and have been redefined over the past century due to changes in women's status, feminist movements, and political developments. Mother-child relationships were greatly affected by political decisions during the early 1900s, and the maternal role has been transformed over the years. To understand the dilemmas faced by women concerning motherhood and work, for example, Allen argues that the problem must be examined in terms of its demographic and political development through history. Allen highlights the feminist movements in Western Europe--primarily Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands--and explores the implications of the maternal role for women's aspirations to the rights of citizenship. Among the topics Allen explores are the history of the maternal role, psychoanalysis and theories on the mother-child relationship, changes in family law from 1890-1914, the economic status of mothers, and reproductive responsibility.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
When Nora, the heroine of Ibsen's A Doll's House, walked out the door of her comfortable home, her husband Torvald frantically sought to hold her back. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dora Russell, Ellen Key, Alva Myrdal, World War, League of German Women's Associations, Adele Schreiber, Lily Braun, Marie Stopes, Napoleonic Code, National Socialist, Nelly Roussel, Western European, Weimar Republic, Die Frau, Eugenics Society, Vera Brittain, Women's Cooperative Guild, Aletta Jacobs, Chamber of Deputies, Helene Stocker, Madeleine Pelletier, Marianne Weber, Camilla Jellinek, Children's House, League of German Women's Organizations New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
When Nora, the heroine of Ibsen's A Doll's House, walked out the door of her comfortable home, her husband Torvald frantically sought to hold her back. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dora Russell, Ellen Key, Alva Myrdal, World War, League of German Women's Associations, Adele Schreiber, Lily Braun, Marie Stopes, Napoleonic Code, National Socialist, Nelly Roussel, Western European, Weimar Republic, Die Frau, Eugenics Society, Vera Brittain, Women's Cooperative Guild, Aletta Jacobs, Chamber of Deputies, Helene Stocker, Madeleine Pelletier, Marianne Weber, Camilla Jellinek, Children's House, League of German Women's Organizations New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- The Policing of Families by Jacques Donzelot on 10 pages
- The Right to Be Happy by Dora Winifred Black Russell, Countess Russell on 10 pages
- The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir on 8 pages
- Women and a Changing Civilization by Winifred Holtby on 6 pages
- Birth Control (Thoemmes Press- Thoemmes Library of Social Thought) by Marie Stopes on 6 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
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