Session Abstract

This roundtable discussion will focus on the uses of legal records in the study of women's and gender history.  The participants are specialists in European women’s, gender and family history, covering the time period from the Early Modern era through the early-twentieth century, and geographic regions ranging from Scandinavia to England, France and Germany.  Each participant will offer a brief presentation based on original research.

In spite of the European focus of the scholarship that underlies this roundtable discussion, our intention is to promote a broad, comparative conversation about the uses of a variety of legal records including, among others, court cases, legal testimonies and judicial rulings; labor regulations, marriage and family law; property, tax and inheritance laws; and torts and contracts.  Based on our individual research we wish to explore the potential of such records and the methodological concerns they raise.  We will also explore the impact of different legal traditions in different geographical and historical contexts; legal constructions of gender, class and citizenship; and power, authority and their contestations as they come to light in these records. 

While exploring general issues related to gender and the law, and laws as written texts articulating formal power as imposed by authorities, the primary focus of the session will be on legal issues as they function in the realm of practice, a topic of increasing interest among scholars exploring the intersections of law and history, including gender history.  This session should therefore be of interest not only to women’s and gender historians, but also social, cultural and political historians, and legal scholars.