Institute for Ethnic Studies; Ljubljana (Web)
Time: 10.-11.03.2027
Venue: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Proposals by: 30.11.2026
The “long nineteenth century” witnessed many transformative developments that shaped modern Europe, among which the rise of nationalism and the emergence of women’s emancipation movements were particularly significant. Although often studied separately, these processes were deeply interconnected. Across Europe, women participated actively in national movements and in a wide range of voluntary associations, including cultural, educational, charitable, and national organisations. These associations provided important spaces for civic engagement, sociability, and public action, while also contributing to the strengthening of national communities. In many cases, engagement in national activism provided women with one of their first opportunities for public participation, important organisational responsibilities, and political action.
At the same time, the relationship between nationalism and women’s emancipation was complex and often contradictory. National movements opened new spaces for female agency while simultaneously assigning women specific roles as cultural transmitters, educators, guardians of national traditions, and symbolic representatives of the nation. Women thus occupied a unique position at the intersection of national, social, and political transformation.
This international conference seeks to explore the diverse ways in which women contributed to the construction of national communities and how participation in national movements and voluntary associations became key arenas for social, political, and cultural emancipation. Particular attention will be devoted to associations as spaces of mobilisation, political socialisation, education, and public engagement, where women acquired organisational experience, built social networks, and negotiated their place within emerging national communities. The conference will also explore borderlands, multilingual environments, and multinational societies, where national competition, cultural exchange, and social change created distinctive opportunities and challenges for women’s public engagement. Read more … (PDF)

Paula Lange (Univ. of Vienna)
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Ö1-Reihe Radiokolleg; Irmi Wutscher
Frauenstudienzirkel
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, SFB F92 Managing Maximilian (1493-1519)