(Gender and Well-Being) 1st Edition
by Anna Bellavitis (Editor), Beatrice Zucca Micheletto (Editor)
This book offers a comparative
perspective on Northern and Southern European laws and customs
concerning women’s property and economic rights. By focusing on both
Northern and Southern European societies, these studies analyse the
consequences of different juridical frameworks and norms on the
development of the economic roles of men and women.
This volume is divided into three parts. The first, Laws, presents general outlines related to some European regions; the second, Family strategies or marital economies?,
questions the potential conflict between the economic interests of the
married couple and those of the lineage within the nobility; finally,
the third part of the book, Inside the urban economy, focuses on
economic and work activities of middle and lower classes in the urban
environment. The assorted and rich panorama offered by the history of
the legislation on women’s economic rights shows that similarities and
differences run through Europe in such a way that the North/South model
looks very stereotyped. While this approach calls into question
classical geographical and cultural maps and well-established
chronologies, it encourages a reconsideration of European history
according to a cross-boundaries perspective.
By drawing on a wide
range of social, economic and cultural European contexts, from the late
medieval to early modern age to the nineteenth century, and including
the middle and lower classes (especially artisans, merchants and
traders) as well as the economic practices and norms of the upper middle
class and aristocracy, this book will be of interest to economic and
social historians, sociologists of health, gender and sexuality, and
economists.
