Professor Kathryn Gleadle
Professor of Gender and Women's History
Mansfield College
01865 (2)82896
My research interests centre on British political culture in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and, more broadly, on the experiences of women in this period. My works in this field include British women in the 19th century (Palgrave Macillan, 2001) and Borderline citizens: women, gender and political culture, 1780-1860 (British Academy and OUP, 2009).
More recently, I have been considering the ways in which Victorian women's entrepreneurial activities were enmeshed within an expanding global economy. I wanted to investigate the ways in which business strategies and commercial sensibilities were often rooted in the 'taken-for-granted' assumptions which enabled imperialism to flourish (see '"The riches and treasures of other countries": women, empire and maritime expertise in early Victorian London",Gender and History 2013, Vol.25, pp.7-26).
I have a particular interest in exploring the agency of those who have been excluded from traditional political narratives. I am therefore now researching the involvement of British children in the political process during the age of reform [please see research tab for further details]. However, I am still actively involved in the intellectual debates of feminist and gender history and theory and these remain at the heart of my work. (See 'The imagined communities of women's history: current debates and emerging themes, a rhizomatic approach', Women's History Review (2013), pp. 1-17.
I welcome the opportunity to work with graduates in any of these fields and am very happy to discuss possible projects with prospective applicants.
Borderline Citizens: women, gender and political culture in Britain, 1815-1867 (Oxford, 2009)
This volume provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of women's involvement in British political culture in the first half of the nineteenth century. It is based upon extensive archival research, but also engages with recent feminist theories in the social sciences, such as psychology and sociology. The volume is innovative too for its attention to rural experiences of politics, as well as urban. Dr Gleadle not only throws new light on women's political activities but also does much to challenge many traditional assumptions about contemporary politics per se. This includes, for example, fresh insights into the great Reform Act of 1832, attention to the many continuities in political practice and ideas, and a focus upon the primary significance of parish politics within the day-to-day activities of the middling and gentry classes.
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