Publisher's Synopsis
America, Belgium, England, France, and the Netherlands all experienced political upheaval during the late eighteenth century. Women participated in these events in a variety of ways according to class and country. Not only was the nature of their participation different from that of men, but they were also affected by the political changes and economic developments in ways different from their male counterparts.The essays collected in this volume provide a comparative historical investigation of gender and political culture as they explore eighteenth-century revolutionary movements. The contributors bring a rich variety of sources, methods, and perspectives to the investigation, making this anthology a useful contribution to the study of comparative history. Included are sources from diaries, letters, petitions, public speeches and printed essays, newspaper reports, police records, and other government documents. Archival illustrations visually document this revolutionary era.Women and Politics in the Age of the Democratic Revolution analyzes the impact of women's participation on the courses and outcomes of specific upheavals, and assesses the impact of the political and institutional changes on women's lives and their political and social identities. Many of the papers point to the root of women's political engagement in neighborhood or village community life, and suggest that where local institutions were weakened by political revolution or economic growth, women often lost "protocitizenship." Drawing on the analyses of their contributors, the editors address the critical questions whether the late eighteenth century was in fact an age of democratic revolution for women. The investigation of such questions has profound implications for our evaluation of the nature and limits of democratic ideology and institutions.The collection will be of interest to scholars of modern European history, women's studies, comparative political history, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Revolution.
