Series Editors: Professor Maria Isabel Romero Ruiz and Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley share their vision for the Gender and the History of Institutions series
This new book series welcomes studies of the history of institutions globally through the lens of gender. It emanates from conversations we have had with colleagues and scholars in the fields of gender history, the history of institutions, the history of religion, the history of poverty and the history of childhood and youth.
Much of the recent interest in institutions such as asylums, hospitals, prisons, religious organisations and other often carceral institutions have focused on the treatment of ‘historical’ abuse. Our aim is to not only provide a platform for a discussion of these institutions and those affected by them, but also to make visible lesser known institutions and archives. By illuminating the lived experience of those directly affected by their time in these institutions, and those who worked there and in the local communities surrounding them, we aim to broaden the conversation surrounding confinement, incarceration, poverty, religious involvement in health and welfare, and differences across the globe.
The series will also cover new analyses and interpretation of sources that have already been discussed by historians of crime, poverty, violence, gender, sexuality, childhood and youth since the 1970s. Engaging in an interdisciplinary manner, we can shed more light on how the institutions operated, how they were supported, the underlying need for them and the perspective of both those placed in the institutions and those who worked there. This will allow a more complete understanding of the operation of different individual institutions throughout different historical periods and locations while also foregrounding hitherto neglected or unavailable sources. We particularly welcome new approaches to the topic and encourage scholars of all career stages to engage with us.
We believe understanding and exploring the experiences of individuals in institutions for regulation, control, rehabilitation, reform or punishment can encourage a greater sense of citizenship and solidarity at the present time as well as promoting a culture of empathy in our contemporary societies for those who are survivors and affected by institutions both in the past and in the present.
While we are looking broadly at gender, we are focused in particular on institutions where women and gender minorities have been the victims of abuse, discrimination and violence in the past and in the present. The idea is to envisage common experiences by those who lived part of their lives in these places of incarceration and find new ways to interpret social behaviour and cultural norms in diverse geographical locations where gender has been determinant in the way individuals have been treated throughout history.
All books in the series – both monographs and edited collections – will be published in English, but we intend to give diversity and plurality to the choice of institutions with a variety of settings that can enhance a comparative discussion of the role of gender in these organisations, not only in English-speaking countries but also in other parts of the world. We encourage scholars to look globally but are also very happy to receive submissions based on national, local or regional research. We are open to scholars of all career stages, and we aim to reach a broad audience beyond academia.
For further information, please contact Dr Laurel Plapp, Senior Acquisitions Editor, at Peter Lang at l.plapp@peterlang.com.
