Political Worlds of Women

<p>Traditional analyses of nineteenth-century politics have assigned women a peripheral role. By adopting a broader interpretation of political participation the author identifies how middle-class women were able to contribute to political affairs in the nineteenth century. Examining the contribution that women made to British political life in the period 1800-1870 stimulates debates about gender and politics the nature of authority and the definition of political culture.</p><p>This volume examines female engagement in both traditional and unconventional political arenas including female sociability salons child-rearing and education health consumption religious reform and nationalism. Richardson focuses on middle-class women's social cultural intellectual and political authority as implemented by a range of public figures and lesser-known campaigners. The activists discussed and their varying political economic and religious backgrounds will demonstrate the significance of female interventions in shaping the political culture of the period and beyond. </p>