Gender in the European Town: Ancien Regime to the Modern

417 Pages·2022·42.372 MB·English

by  Deborah Simonton

GENDER IN THE EUROPEAN TOWN
Moving from the mid-seventeenth century to the near present, this book marks
physical and conceptual changes across European towns and examines how gen-
der was implicated and imbricated in those changes.
As places which fostered and disseminated key social, economic, political and
cultural developments, towns were central to the creation of gendered identities
and the transmission of ideas across local, national and transnational boundaries.
From 1650 to 2000, towns grew rapidly and responded to the needs for new
infrastructures, physical reconfiguration and ideas of citizenship. Gender rela-
tions vary over space and time and are continually altering; such variation under-
lines the need for a thorough non- or even anti-essentialism. Drawing primarily
on three themes of economy, civic identity and uses of space, the volume shows
that urban development, and responses to it, is not gender neutral and thus argues
for the fundamental importance of a gendered perspective.
Gender in the European Town is a useful resource for all students and scholars
interested in urban history and its interaction with gender from 1650 to the
present.
Deborah Simonton is Associate Professor, emerita, at the University of South-
ern Denmark, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Visiting Professor in Cul-
tural History, University of Turku, author of A History of European Women’s Work
and Women in European Culture and Society: A Sourcebook, and General Editor of
Routledge History Handbook on Gender and the Urban Experience.
‘Exploring gender in the European town, Deborah Simonton provides essential
reading for everyone interested in the many dimensions of urban life.’
Dag Lindstrom, Uppsala University, Sweden
‘Gender in the European Town offers a cutting-edge and nuanced survey of how
gender informs the urban experience, during a critical period of expansion
and evolution. Highlighting the complex interplays of identity, politics, space,
belonging, economy and society in small towns and large cities across the breadth
of Europe, this volume will be a core text for students and scholars who wish to
understand the important role of towns in shaping everyday life and processes of
historical change. A remarkable achievement by a leader in the field.’
Katie Barclay, University of Adelaide, Australia
GENDER IN THE
EUROPEAN TOWN
Ancien Regime to the Modern
Deborah Simonton
Designed cover image: Port and Docks at Bordeaux, Pierre LACOUR
père, (1745–1814), 18th century, France, French © Peter Horree / Alamy
Stock Photo
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Deborah Simonton
The right of Deborah Simonton to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Simonton, Deborah, 1948- author.
Title: Gender in the European town : ancien regime to the modern /
Deborah Simonton.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022033738 (print) | LCCN 2022033739 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780415684439 (hardback) | ISBN 9780415684446 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003352303 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Women—Europe—History. | Gender identity—Europe—
History. | Sex role—Europe—History. | Cities and towns—Europe—
History. | Europe—Social life and customs—History.
Classification: LCC HQ1587 .S56 2023 (print) | LCC HQ1587 (ebook) |
DDC 305.4094—dc23/eng/20220714
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022033738
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022033739
ISBN: 978-0-415-68443-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-68444-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-35230-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/b23265
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
This book is dedicated to my ‘urban gang’,
without whom it would have been impossible.

CONTENTS
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
List of Plans xv
List of Images xvii
Acknowledgements xxi
Introduction 1
Gender and Urban identities 4
Urban Economies 6
Civic Identity 7
Space and Place 7
1 Absolutism and Enlightenment: Urban Belonging 9
Belonging and Identity 9
Gender, Enlightenment and Belonging 12
Towns, Mobility and Meaning 17
2 Urban Economies 26
Visualising the Urban Economy 27
Towns, Artisans and Crafts 30
Urban Worlds of Commerce 35
Constructing the Businessman 35
Gender and Urban Family Business 38
Women Entrepreneurs 41
‘They May Depend on Being Well and Readily Served’ 46
Claiming Their Place 51
viii Contents
3 Civic Identity and Governance 55
Power in the Cities 56
Exercising Civic Authority 61
Performing Civic Identity 66
Popular Voices, Popular Agency 72
4 Places and Spaces 83
Enlightenment and Improvement 84
Reconstructing Towns 88
Streetlife 93
Sociable Spaces 97
‘Going shopping’ 105
The Disorderly Town 109
5 Bourgeois Century: Shifting Parameters, Shifting Meanings 118
Forces for Change 118
Gender Ideology 121
Towns and Migration 123
Mobility and Belonging 125
6 The Transformative Urban Economy 132
Economic Change 132
Representing Urban Business 134
Gender and Family Business 136
Women Doing it for Themselves 142
Urban Artisans 146
Servicing the Town 151
Gendering the Urban Economy 157
7 Politics and Civic Identity 161
Gender, Class and Political Voices 162
Municipal Political Reform 164
Urban Associations and Philanthropy 168
Workplace Politics 174
The Community Voice 178
8 Shaping Towns 186
The Shape of Towns 186
Town Halls and Toilets 188
Contents ix
Transport and Gender 194
Constructing Homes 201
Domestic Space 206
9 Streets, Sociability and Consuming the Town 211
Walking the Streets 212
Shopping as Practice 216
Parks and Recreation 220
Sociability and Networking 222
10 Re-imaging the City in the Twentieth Century 232
Urban Europe 233
Revisiting Gender 236
Moving Stories 240
11 Civic Impulses 248
Finding Women’s Voice 248
Masculinity and Class 254
Shaping the Town 257
Tea and Sandwiches 263
12 Work in the Modern Town 270
The Modern Urban Economy 270
Gender in Urban Factories 276
Servicing the City 279
Homeworking 285
Entrepreneurship and Business 287
Claiming Places 291
13 Living in Towns 295
Re-imagining the Town 295
Architects, Design and Planning 297
The Urban Home 301
The Interior Home 306
Response and Reaction 309
14 Navigating Urban Spaces 316
Access to the City 316
Cars, Bikes and Pavements 319
Recreation and Leisure 324