Historiography, Study & Teaching, Women in History, Women's Studies, Europe, Gender Studies 

Writing History 

Feminist scholarship has changed history writing to where it is no longer imaginable to write history, whether of the political, military, social, economic, or intellectual varieties, without taking gender into account. Downs's book explores the evolution of historical writing about women and gender from the 1930s until the early twenty-first century. The discussion moves from women's history to gender history, and then to poststructuralist challenges to women's and gender history. Designed to be accessible to students, discussion focuses neither on abstract theory nor on historiography per se, but rather upon the practical application of theory in historical scholarship on women and gender. Laura Lee Downs is Director of Studies at the Centre de Recherches Historiques, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Feminist scholarship has changed history writing to where it is no longer imaginable to write history, whether of the political, military, social, economic, or intellectual varieties, without taking gender into account. Downs's book explores the evolution of historical writing about women and gender from the 1930s until the early twenty-first century. The discussion moves from women's history to gender history, and then to poststructuralist challenges to women's and gender history. Designed to be accessible to students, discussion focuses neither on abstract theory nor on historiography per se, but rather upon the practical application of theory in historical scholarship on women and gender. Feminist scholarship has changed history writing to where it is no longer imaginable to write history, whether of the political, military, social, economic, or intellectual varieties, without taking gender into account. Downs's book explores the evolution of historical writing about women and gender from the 1930s until the early twenty-first century. The discussion moves from women's history to gender history, and then to poststructuralist challenges to women's and gender history. Designed to be accessible to students, discussion focuses neither on abstract theory nor on historiography per se, but rather upon the practical application of theory in historical scholarship on women and gender. "Downs puts the entire range of women's and gender history into context, showing how it challenges the conventional pieties, opens up new veins of research, and transforms our understanding of every aspect of history. Her command of the literature is simply astounding and her work is sure to be seen as a landmark in the development of the field of history in the broadest sense."—Lynn Hunt, UCLA"Ingenuity and perspicuity shine through Laura Lee Downs superb distillation and analysis of women's and gender history. To understand accomplishments and changes in the field, put this book at the top of your list."—Nancy Cott, Harvard University - from Amazon