In historical research, different roles of sexes / genders in society have long been debated. In the study of economic and business history, gender has become a more prominent topic only relatively recently.
Therefore, the economy and its agents in the past still appear very masculine. Outside women´s work and labor market participation, the role of women in the economy and, more generally, the impact of gender on economic opportunities and performance have only begun to find their way as objects of historical research. When a gender perspective has been applied to economic and business history research, many interesting recent findings have been made about how gender roles have affected both men and women's economic opportunities, either by limiting or enabling action.
Additionally, many established assumptions have been challenged: it has been shown how women were active participants in the early modern credit markets as lenders, borrowers, savers, and investors and played an important role in family businesses. Similarly, women were also politically active and aimed to secure their own economic interests in the political arena. What these studies have in common is to overcome the problem of silence in the original sources telling about female economic agency.
The theme of the 2022 Annual Gustav Vasa Seminar is Gender and Economy.
It is through this conference that we aim to further promote this debate about gender in the economy. We welcome presentations on a wide range of topics addressing any era, region, and economic and business history theme or labor history from a gender history perspective. We encourage but do not limit participants to consider what the role of gender in the economy has been at different times, in different societies and communities, and what have been the opportunities and barriers for men and women as economic actors.
The keynote lecture will be given by Professor Anne E. C. McCants (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States).
Proposals (both individual papers and three to four-paper panels) are welcome until April 12, 2022. Decisions on papers submitted will be made and sent out on April 22, 2022 at the latest. Please, submit your proposal via conference website (https://www.jyu.fi/hytk/fi/laitokset/hela/en/news-and-events/events/gustav-vasa-seminar-gender-economy).
A proposal for an individual paper should be 200-400 words and for panels in total 300-600 words including the headings of each paper. For further information, please contact gustavvasajyufi.
The conference week is packed with events for historians: Gender & Economy Summer School (June 13-14), Gustav Vasa Seminar (June 15-16), and Baltic Connections (June 16-17). The theme for 2022 the Annual Gustav Vasa Seminar is Gender and Economy.
The Gustav Vasa Seminar, named after the Swedish King Gustav Vasa (1496-1560), has been organized since 2003 at the Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä. The conference and its annually varying topics have brought together a large group of scholars to discuss their top research interests in the summery Lake District of Finland.