Private life, profession, mandate – the social and cultural foundations of parliamentary representation (1871-1918)

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Since January 2021, the research project "Private life, profession, mandate the social and cultural foundations of parliamentary representation (1871-1918)" has been addressing the professionalization of parliamentarianism and politics in the German Empire. Particular focus is placed on the exercise of the parliamentary mandate and its transition from voluntary activity to full time occupation, rather than on parliamentary operations. The project examines the parliamentarians and their daily life at the intersection of work, family and political activities. Main source for analysis are "private" correspondences and diaries from 105 members of the German Reichstag and the Prussian House of Representatives. The research results will be published in a printed book and a digital edition. The research project investigates the parliamentarians’ living conditions in the phase of the beginning mass politicization. It offers insights into the management of time an d resources, into the everyday practices and lifestyles of the mandate holders at the parliamentary seat, in the constituency and at home. Private communication can also provide insights into the actors’ understanding of their social roles and the societal discourse on the emerging profile of the modern "career politician". The research of the project group has shown that an extension of the initial research design with gender specific questions is necessary to thoroughly illustrate the process of the professionalization of politics between 1871 and 1914. The broadening of this perspective focuses on the integration of women into the political lifeworld of parliamentarians. This applies in particular to the role of the wives of MPs, who were an integral part of the professionalization process of politics as agents and »intersections« between the parliamentary mandate, the domestic source of income and family life. The increasing entanglements between the private and social life of the family and the political mandate of the husband provided women with »informal« access to politics, which was partly used to assert own agencies. In continuation of the research already conducted, more detailed investigations of the "private correspondence" and diaries of 24 wives of parliamentarians will be continued and completed. On the basis of this collection of sources, the research project investigates female participation in »male« parliamentarianism during the "professionalization" of politics.