The Involvement of Women in Municipal Social Administration in Poznań as a New Form of Practising Emotions, Based on the Local Polish Press at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/APH.2025.131.06Keywords
Poznań at the turn of the twentieth century, history of cultural gender, emotions, social policyAbstract
This paper discusses the inclusion of women in municipal social administration in Poznań (at that time, German Posen), the city where, since the end of the nineteenth century, they could be elected to honorary, unpaid positions previously reserved exclusively for men. This process occurred in larger municipalities within the Prussian state. It was the implementation of the ideas of liberal social reformers who believed that the female nature made women experts in caring for the poor and children. According to the reformers, the empathy and emotionality of women would help combat social pathologies originating in the family. The participation of women in social administration is therefore seen as a form of practising emotions in a rationalised public space. The article analyses the reactions of the Poznań press, representing various political persuasions, to this new sphere of women’s activity from the perspective of the prevailing gender hierarchy at the time and from the point of view of the Polish-German national conflict. Methodologically, the article draws on the concepts proposed by Barbara H. Rosenwein and William Reddy.
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