Gender, Politics and Materiality in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800

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This international and transdisciplinary network brings together four nodes to explore the theme of gender, power and materiality in early modern Europe. Its establishment is timely, developing from two international conferences on gender and politics in early modern Europe organised by the PI and CI since 2008. From these events emerged a group of scholars with shared interests in letters, gender and political culture, which expanded into materiality, specifically as it relates to early modern archives and gift-giving. In this context, the network studies relationships between gender, power and materiality, defined both in terms of physical objects or material texts and the social and cultural practices, and spaces in which they were produced, consumed, exchanged and displayed. It focusses on different forms of elite power across the early modern period in Europe, and encompasses formal and cultural power.Influenced by the 'material turn', the network considers objects as social agents, analysing the gendered power embedded within physical artefacts and the social practices of production, consumption and exchange, especially in relation to early modern practices and modern theories of gift-giving. It questions how far materiality made gender positions stable and unstable; and studies objects to reconstruct new networks and gendered forms of power created around object exchange and production. Secondly, it considers archives as a form of gendered power, and spaces (e.g. noble households, courts, libraries) in which material objects were located, and their connection with the politics of memory, gift-giving and display. The newness of this approach lies both in viewing power and materiality through the lens of gender, and the application of diverse approaches bringing into dialogue historians, literary critics, material culture specialists, anthropologists, archaeologists (who bring an understanding of objects and theory), and curators, archivists and conservators. Furthermore, the network prompts an important process of recovery of a range of physical objects across Europe (eg jewels, books and other gifts) which will be considered alongside documents like letters, inventories and accounts. The link with the 'Women's Early Modern Letters Online' project facilitates integrated exploration of material and written texts, and hosting by the Bodleian ensures digital sustainability. Importantly, the network brings together international scholars working on different contexts, who specialise on various UK and non-UK records (Scandinavian, Dutch, French and German), and bring together different historiographies, historical traditions and palaeographical skills. Proceedings will be in English, but in different European settings, allowing access to work ordinarily only available in different languages.The network plans three workshops (in Lund, Sweden; Leiden, The Netherlands; and Perth, Australia) and a conference in Plymouth. The first stage is a workshop 'Gender, Power and Theories of Materiality in Early Modern Europe' to investigate underpinning methodologies. The second stage will be an opening 'state-of-the-field' international conference ('Gender, Power and Materiality in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800'), which will be an open call for papers to allow for the possibility of expanding the network over a range of disciplines and geographical areas. The third stage will be a symposium on 'Gender and the Politics of Early Modern Archives/Spaces'; while the fourth stage will be a capstone workshop on 'Gender, Emotions and the Dynamics of Early Modern Gift-Exchange'. The network will produce a jointly-authored journal article, an edited collection, and a special edition of a journal on 'Archives and Spaces'. The network website will be developed at the outset of the project, and utilised over the two years and beyond as a mechanism of digital scholarly sociability, to publicise events and research, and host an online exhibition.