Gender, Law and Material Culture: Immobile Property and Mobile Goods in Early Modern Europe

This interdisciplinary volume explores the division of the early modern material world into mobile and immobile property, possession, and the rights to usufruct, using case studies and examples from a wide geographical range. It offers fresh insight into the disadvantages women faced in this system, providing a valuable resource for researchers and students of womens history, social and economic history, and material culture.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 290 pages
Publication date: 27 October 2020
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive interdisciplinary volume delves into the intricate categorization of the early modern material world into vital legal, economic, and personal divisions: mobile and immobile property, possession, and the rights to usufruct. The chapters present detailed descriptions and comparative analyses of diverse modes of acquisition and intergenerational transfer, both through legal frameworks and customary practices. By incorporating a range of perspectives, including cultural history, legal history, social and economic history, philosophy, and law, the book offers a nuanced understanding of the intricate connections between an object's movability and the gender of the individuals who owned, possessed, or utilized it. Extensive case studies and examples originate from a diverse geographical spectrum, encompassing regions such as Norway, England, Scotland, the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Tyrol, the Ottoman Empire, Greece, Romania, and the European colonies in Brazil and Jamaica. By encompassing both urban and rural areas and examining various social groups, from ruling elites to the lower strata of society, the chapters provide a novel perspective on the division of mobile and immobile property that imposed social and economic disadvantages on women.

As a valuable resource for scholars and students of women's history, social and economic history, and material culture, this book explores a wide array of topics, including landownership, marriage contracts, slaveholding, and the dowry. By examining these diverse aspects, it sheds light on the complex dynamics and challenges faced by women in the early modern world.

Weight: 468g
Dimension: 161 x 234 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367371777