Perspectives on the peasantries of Europe

A collected volume on The Peasantries of Europe: From the Fourteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries, edited by Tom Scott, is reviewed. It contains an Introduction by Scott; papers on France (Jonathan Dewald and Liana Vardi), Iberia (Teofilo F. Ruiz), Italy (S.R. Epstein), Western Germany (Thomas Robisheaux), East‐Elbian Germany and Poland (William W. Hagen), the Austrian Empire (Hermann Rebel), Russia (Edgar Melton), the Ottoman Empire (Fikret Adanir), Scandinavia (David Gaunt) and England (Richard M. Smith); and a concluding essay (John Langton). The volume's scope and the claims made on its behalf, as a work of major historiographic importance, are noted; the theoretical/ methodological intent and the authors’ remit identified; and the individual papers considered critically. It provides a useful depiction of the specificities of a wide range of European peasantries. It is, however, in several ways, analytically defective. This is so, it is argued, inasmuch as the authors’ quest for diversity turns out to be unhelpful; it is structured by an inadequate political economy, seen in an absence, or deficient treatment, of various crucial themes — most notably sharecropping, differential land productivity, social differentiation, and the state; and the volume has major shortcomings in terms of comparative history (including a curious neglect of the influential work of Robert Brenner).

The Peasantries of Europe: From the Fourteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries, edited by Tom Scott. London and New York: Longman. 1998. Pp.xi + 416. £44 (hardback); £19.99 (paperback). ISBN 0 582 10132 8 and 10131 X     

Gender mainstreaming and the framing of women's rights in Europe: The contribution of the Council of Europe

Drawing on published materials from the Committee of Ministers, Assembly and expert working groups of the Council of Europe, this paper investigates the distinctive contribution made to the framing of women's rights over the last two decades by this regional organisation, which recent studies of the `Europeanisation' of public policies have largely neglected. Elements of congruence are identified between the major mobilising themes of second wave feminism and the Council's emphasis on protecting individual rights, and its sensitivity to the incompleteness and shortcomings of `actually existing' democratic institutions and practices. The relative openness of its agenda-setting processes is also underlined. The Council's flag ship policies for women are shown to have centred since the mid-1980s on a `politics of presence' frame and the (contested) concept of `parity democracy', and the tensions between these and the more recent turn to gender mainstreaming are explored. But the paper also points to the Council's role in diffusing into the E.U. governance arena women's claims to equal participation and presence in the policy process, and notes recent French and U.K. legislation as testifying to the continuing salience of these claims at the national level. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Gender mainstreaming and the framing of women's rights in Europe: The contribution of the Council of Europe

Drawing on published materials from the Committee of Ministers, Assembly and expert working groups of the Council of Europe, this paper investigates the distinctive contribution made to the framing of women's rights over the last two decades by this regional organisation, which recent studies of the `Europeanisation' of public policies have largely neglected. Elements of congruence are identified between the major mobilising themes of second wave feminism and the Council's emphasis on protecting individual rights, and its sensitivity to the incompleteness and shortcomings of `actually existing' democratic institutions and practices. The relative openness of its agenda-setting processes is also underlined. The Council's flag ship policies for women are shown to have centred since the mid-1980s on a `politics of presence' frame and the (contested) concept of `parity democracy', and the tensions between these and the more recent turn to gender mainstreaming are explored. But the paper also points to the Council's role in diffusing into the E.U. governance arena women's claims to equal participation and presence in the policy process, and notes recent French and U.K. legislation as testifying to the continuing salience of these claims at the national level.     

Women in Eastern Europe: Survey of literature

Since 1975 there has been a considerable increase in the amount of literature, written in English, about the status of women in Eastern Europe. In this article it is argued that the growth of interest is related to the re-emergence of the Women's Movement during the sixties when feminists were looking towards socialist states for role models and for strategies to guide the transition to sexual equality in the West. This article reviews the literature on women in Eastern Europe and considers the impact of Women's Studies on East European Studies as a whole.     

Prostitution Policy in Europe: A Time of Change?

There has been considerable recent debate about prostitution in Europe that reflects concerns about health, employment and human rights. Legal changes are being introduced in many countries. We focus on two examples in order to discuss the likely implications. A new law in The Netherlands is normalizing aspects of the sex industry through decriminalizing both workers and businesses. In Sweden, on the other hand, prostitution is considered to be a social problem, and a new law criminalizes the purchasers of sexual services in an attempt to reduce demand.Both reforms appear to have had their desired effect at one level; in The Netherlands, health and safety regulations will be introduced as in any other job, and EU sex workers gain full social, legal and employment rights; in Sweden there was initially a tenfold decrease in the numbers of women working visibly on the streets, and some workers have left the industry. However, in both countries, the new legislation has also driven some sex work underground. Many sex workers are excluded by the Dutch system and move underground to become effectively invisible to the authorities. In Sweden sex workers and their clients also become less visible in order that the latter can avoid sanction. Social and economic changes, such as increased migration and the growing use of the Internet will also render the sex industry less visible both to state regulation and to health care workers.The major problems of prostitution for the workers remain exploitation, stigma, abuse and criminalization. These are not unique to the industry, and can only be tackled effectively by the self-organization of sex workers into unions and rights groups, along with full decriminalization. An alternative vision is promised through self-organization and anti-racist actions by sex workers in Germany; normalization and workers’ rights are tackled alongside training programmes for those seeking alternatives. Policy makers throughout Europe would do well to look at their experience and not simply at the clash of legal reforms.     

On Luisa Passerini: subjectivity,Europe, affective historiography

Weaving together the key themes of subjectivity, Europe, and affects, this article argues that the work of Luisa Passerini constitutes a paradigmatic shift in understandings of contemporary European history, culture, and politics. During the 1990s, Passerini's focus shifted from the history of fascism and memory to the study of ideas and experiences of Europeanness. She reclaimed Europeanism as a research topic for cultural history in order to articulate a critique of Eurocentrism. The coherence of her overarching thematic scope was safeguarded by a constant emphasis on subjectivity. Understanding the correlation between the theoretical privileging of the notion of intersubjectivity and the nurturing of collaborative, transgenerational, and transnational academic practices is thus very important for contextualizing Passerini's historiographical contribution. During the last three decades, Passerini has developed a historiographical framework that crosses many disciplinary boundaries and incorporates practices of teaching, learning, and researching into an integrated mode of producing historical knowledge.     

The Limits of European-ness: Immigrant women in Fortress Europe

This article is intended to contribute to the ongoing debate on the ideological, social and political formation of a New Europe. By focusing on the position of immigrant women it examines the gendered nature of the changing configurations of cultural and social European landscapes. Two features of immigrant women's positioning are the key issues of this analysis: regulations through national and European law and ideological representation. It is argued that the debate on European citizenship should be closely linked to the question of formal and substantive and also of symbolic rights. Moreover, feminists, when using the concept of difference in this context, should be aware of the power structures underlying differentiated social positions in society. European-ness will lose its exclusive character only if it provides a solid place in the symbolic order of Europe for immigrants.