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  • © 2018

Women’s Work and Rights in Early Modern Urban Europe

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Combines a macro-analytical approach (discussion of historical thesis and models) with a micro-narrative approach (case-studies and life-stories)

  • Highlights the need for further research on women’s working opportunities

  • Investigates 'female' occupations from domestic service to prostitution

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
  2. Women, Work, Rights and the City

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Women Have Always Worked

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 3-18
    3. The Gender of Work

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 19-30
    4. From Globalisation to Industrialisation

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 57-68
    5. Agency and Capabilities: North Versus South?

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 69-86
  3. Women’s Jobs

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-109
    2. Servants and Slaves

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 111-128
    3. Caring and Feeding

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 129-144
    4. Midwives

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 145-156
    5. Bodies as Resources

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 157-167
  4. Workshops and Markets

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 169-169
    2. Learning at Home and on the Shop Floor

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 171-182
    3. Women, Families, Guilds and the French Exception

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 183-196
    4. Silk and Skill

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 197-208
    5. Printed Tracks

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 209-218
    6. In the Market Place

      • Anna Bellavitis
      Pages 219-234

About this book

In the last decades, women’s role in the workforce has dramatically changed, though gender inequality persists and for women, gender identity still prevails over work identity. It is important not to forget or diminish the historical role of women in the labour market though and this book proposes a critical overview of the most recent historical research on women’s roles in economic urban activities. Covering a wide area of early modern Europe, from Portugal to Poland and from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, Bellavitis presents an overview of the economic rights of women – property, inheritance, management of their wealth, access to the guilds, access to education – and assesses the evolution of female work in different urban contexts.

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Rouen, Rouen, France

    Anna Bellavitis

About the author

Anna Bellavitis is Professor of Early Modern History at Rouen University in Normandy, France and Senior Member of the University Institute of France. Her research concentrates on family and gender history, urban history and citizenship and labour history.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Women’s Work and Rights in Early Modern Urban Europe

  • Authors: Anna Bellavitis

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96541-3

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-96540-6Published: 09 November 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-07210-0Published: 13 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-96541-3Published: 09 October 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 266

  • Topics: Economic History, Feminist Anthropology, Labor Economics, Industrial Organization, European Economics

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 119.99
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