The essays in this volume set out to explore the effects of bringing feminist theory to the traditionally empirical discipline of history. The authors reexamine the assumptions, methods, and content of traditional history as they demonstrate what a revisioned, rewritten history would look like. From a variety of feminist perspectives, these essays explore how we know what we know and what counts as knowledge, calling into question the self-evidence of the evidence itself and challenging traditional categories of analysis. As women's history enters its third decade, these feminist historians collectively call for new directions in research that address not just the effects of gender difference, but differences organized along multiple axes, including race, ethnicity, class, nationality, and sexuality.


The contributors are Ava Baron, Judith Bennett, Marilyn Katz, Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Nell Painter, Sylvia Schafer, Ann-Louise Shapiro, Mrinalini Sinha, Bonnie Smith, Carolyn Steedman, Jennifer Terry, and Vron Ware.


Key Points:

1. Contributors apply feminist theory in a way that is completely accessible to students and traditional historians.

2. Book covers a variety of historical periods and places.