Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Social Life of a Herstory Textbook

Bridging Institutionalism and Actor-Network Theory

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

Authors:
  1. Massilia Ourabah

    1. Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Brings together feminist studies, institutional theory and science and technology studies to explore gender mainstreaming in curriculum and feminist-influenced educational change
  • Uses the French history textbook La place des femmes dans l’histoire: Une histoire mixte (2010) as a case study, critically evaluates the possibility and/or difficulty of gender-mainstreaming the content of public education
  • Uniquely offers two versions of the ‘social life’ of the textbook: one from an institutionalist perspective, the other from an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) perspective

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (4 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Massilia Ourabah
    Pages 1-15

  3. A Story of Individuals and Institutions, Lessons from Institutionalism

    • Massilia Ourabah
    Pages 17-39

  4. A Story of Translations and Materiality, Lessons from Actor-Network Theory

    • Massilia Ourabah
    Pages 41-70

  5. Conclusion

    • Massilia Ourabah
    Pages 71-80

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 81-83
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book studies the possibility for feminist educational change by examining a case study on the social life of a French gender and women history textbook. Massilia Ourabah opens a unique and timely dialogue between two antagonistic sociological trends: institutionalism and actor-network theory (ANT), and more specifically the inhabited institution approach and the sociology of translation. The structure of the book is dual: it offers one version of the case study grounded in the institutionalist approach, and another version grounded in the translational approach. The goal is to show that through the introduction of institutional elements and the rejection of some of ANT’s strongest assumptions, the critical value of ANT can be restored and prove a useful framework for studying sociomaterial networks in education. The book also engages with feminist pedagogy and discusses the implications of the case study for the prospect of a more gender-balanced educational curriculum.

Reviews

​“The Social Life of a Herstory Textbook is an original and exciting analysis by a hugely promising young scholar. It skillfully and elegantly bridges two theoretical frameworks typically seen as incompatible, and provides a rich ethnographic account of a timely, widely debated issue: how to do justice to gender and women’s perspectives in the context of mainstream education?”

—Prof. Dr. Giselinde Kuipers, Research Professor of Sociology, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium

“This is a very important and timely book. It moves beyond the mere observation of the inadequacy of gendered representations in education and asks: how does educational change happen in practice?  Next to its empirical contribution, this book ingeniously brings together actor-network theory and the institutionalist sociological tradition. A must read!”

—Prof. Dr. Jan Willem Duyvendak, Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  • Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Massilia Ourabah

About the author

Massilia Ourabah is a PhD researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She is conducting a doctoral thesis on gender and eco-friendly reproductive labour. Her main research focus is gender and forms of civic participation, but she has also written on gender and family norms in French family migration policies.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Social Life of a Herstory Textbook

  • Book Subtitle: Bridging Institutionalism and Actor-Network Theory

  • Authors: Massilia Ourabah

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4358-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-15-4357-9Published: 23 May 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-15-4360-9Published: 23 May 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-15-4358-6Published: 22 May 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VII, 83

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Science and Technology Studies, Feminist Anthropology, Sociology of Education

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation