Name: Suffrage, Gender and Citizenship – International Perspectives on Parliamentary Reforms
SKU: 1-4438-0162-3
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Suffrage, Gender and Citizenship – International Perspectives on Parliamentary Reforms

Edited By: Pirjo Markkola, Seija-Leena Nevala-Nurmi, Irma Sulkunen

£49.99

This publication studies suffrage, citizenship and parliamentary reforms in various socio-political contexts. By highlighting national differences, this collection argues that the age of suffrage narratives based on universal emancipation is over.

In 2006 Finland celebrated the centenary of universal and equal suffrage. The reform in 1906 was radical: women gained the right to vote and to…

In 2006 Finland celebrated the centenary of universal and equal suffrage. The reform in 1906 was radical: women gained the right to vote and to stand as candidates in parliamentary elections. The new rights were immediately used and 19 women were elected to the Parliament. Finland was the third country, after New Zealand and Australia, in which women were admitted to full political citizenship. Norwegian women were also granted political rights before WWI.

This publication studies suffrage, citizenship and parliamentary reforms in various socio-political contexts. It brings together new research from a wide range of scholars and disciplines. In addition to pioneers, attention is given to Austria, Britain, Canada, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovenia, among others. By highlighting national differences, the collection strives to disperse the universalising trend of research. The chapters suggest that the age of suffrage narratives based on a view of universal emancipation is over; more significant are deconstructive approaches and analyses embedded in local factors.

From an international perspective, the realisation of female suffrage was a long and multi-faceted process taking different forms. The issue of women’s civil rights is certainly not a matter of the past. Internationally, suffrage, gender and citizenship are highly topical issues, as indicated in this collection.

Irma Sulkunen is Professor of Finnish History at the University of Tampere, Finland. Among her publications are History of the Finnish Temperance Movement: Temperance as a Civic Religion (1990), three biographies of women and a book on Finnish nationalism. Her study of the suffrage of Finnish women from an international perspective was published in Finnish (2006) and in Swedish (2008).

Pirjo Markkola is Professor of Nordic history at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Her publications include studies on women’s social, political and religious mobilization in the Nordic countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. She is part of an international research network NordWel (The Nordic Welfare State – Historical Foundations and Future Challenges).

Seija-Leena Nevala-Nurmi is a postgraduate researcher at the Department of History and Philosophy at the University of Tampere. Her research interests include gender history, family history, and history of youth and children. The topic of her forthcoming PhD thesis is Gender and Generation in the Voluntary Defence Movement in Finland 1918–1944.