A History of Women's Political Thought in Europe, 1700–1800

This book explores and examines the political philosophies of enlightenment women across Europe in the eighteenth century.

Karen Green (Author)

9781107450028, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 March 2018

314 pages
23 x 15.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.49 kg

'Karen Green's bold survey of women writers on politics and society across Europe and England convincingly demonstrates the presence and profound centrality of women of letters to Enlightenment argument. A must-read for those committed to understanding the diversity and authority of women's intellectual history.' Wendy Gunther-Canada, University of Alabama, Birmingham

During the eighteenth century, elite women participated in the philosophical, scientific, and political controversies that resulted in the overthrow of monarchy, the reconceptualisation of marriage, and the emergence of modern, democratic institutions. In this comprehensive study, Karen Green outlines and discusses the ideas and arguments of these women, exploring the development of their distinctive and contrasting political positions, and their engagement with the works of political thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Mandeville and Rousseau. Her exploration ranges across Europe from England through France, Italy, Germany and Russia, and discusses thinkers including Mary Astell, Emilie Du Châtelet, Luise Kulmus-Gottsched and Elisabetta Caminer Turra. This study demonstrates the depth of women's contributions to eighteenth-century political debates, recovering their historical significance and deepening our understanding of this period in intellectual history. It will provide an essential resource for readers in political philosophy, political theory, intellectual history, and women's studies.

Introduction
1. Early eighteenth-century debates: from Anne Dacier to Catharine Trotter Cockburn
2. Mary Delariviere Manley, Mary Wortley Montagu and Eliza Haywood: sexuality and politics in the works of Whig and Tory women
3. From the marquise de Lambert to Françoise de Graffigny: the ideology of the salons
4. Enlightenment women in Italy
5. From Hanover and Leipzig to Russia
6. Women's moral mission and the Bluestocking circle
7. Responses to Jean-Jacques Rousseau: from Octavie Belot to Germaine de Staël
8. Radical English women: from Catharine Macaulay to Helen Maria Williams
9. Anticipating and experiencing the revolution in France
10. Women and revolution in Italy, Germany, and Holland
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP], Gender studies: women [JFSJ1], Feminism & feminist theory [JFFK], History of ideas [JFCX], Social & political philosophy [HPS], Western philosophy: Enlightenment [HPCD1], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD], Philosophy [HP], History [HB]