2017 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities

June 01 - 04, 2017

Exploring and representing the history of gendered emotions has caused an array of confrontations: whether between ideas of nature and biology and the social construction of both (and the location of the boundary between); notions of ‘objective’ versus ‘subjective’ scholarship and role of emotion in historical practice; the role of emotion in our analysis of historical behaviours; or between the popular demand for history with emotional resonance and the scholarly demand for dispassionate display. Such conversations have been particularly difficult for feminist scholars who have historically sought to distance themselves from accusations of ‘feminine’ emotional excess by embracing rationality, but more recently have embraced the political possibilities and realities of emotion in shaping power relationships and everyday experiences. The papers in this session bring together scholars exploring what emotions do for gender and women’s history, both within and beyond the academy. It ranges from scholars using emotion to better understand and problematize our understanding of the past to those reflecting on the implications for historical practice and for understanding history outside the academy.