Call For Submissions: New Edited Collection ‘Women In Power: Female Agency in the Nineteenth Century

11 February 2021

Edited by Dr. Fern Riddell, Dr. Emma Butcher, and Dr. Bob Nicholson, ‘Women In Power: Female Agency in the Nineteenth Century’ will seek to challenge the view that the public sphere was overwhelmingly male, and reveal the many places in which Victorian women wielded power and agency.

This edited collection will showcase both the professional and domestic power held by women of the Victorian era, but we are especially interested in women who shaped the world around us through their public lives. We are also keen to push past the lens of victimhood that has often shaped studies of women’s agency in this period and to explore alternative ways of understanding their experiences. Our goal is to normalise nineteenth-century female agency as everyday and pervasive, rather than transgressive and rare.

We welcome global submissions from all disciplines exploring women’s lives in the nineteenth century, from established scholars, early career researchers, PhD students, as well as non-affiliated independents. Submissions can include, but are not limited to, case studies of individuals, as well as broad themes and identities exploring:

  • Race
  • Colonialism
  • Journalism & Publishing
  • Science & Ideas
  • Culture
  • Trade Unions
  • Politics
  • War
  • Sexuality and Gender
  • Trans lives
  • Exploration
  • Business Women

We intend for this to be an edited collection of chapters roughly 8-10,000 words in length, but at this stage need only expressions of interest.

Please email a title and abstract of 250-300 words to: wxminpower@gmail.com

Submission deadline: 28th February, 2021.