Review of Toshiko Himeoka, Mayuho Hasegawa, et al., Jendā (Kindai Yōroppa no Tankyū 11) (Gender: In Search of Modern Europe 11)

Since Joan Scott’s seminal Gender and the Politics of History was translated into Japanese, specialists in Occidental history have adopted the concept of gender in their studies. As historical research on women accumulated, later generations became increasingly aware of the pitfalls of conventional women’s history. They came to realise that it was not enough to either explore the “hidden” history of women or highlight the elite women who participated in feminist movements. Their researches have extended from women’s movements or women’s work and everyday lives into more officialised and/or masculine areas, such as warfare, the institutions and cultures of politics, nationalism and the public sphere. They perceived the necessity of adopting a comprehensive framework that would allow a structural approach to gender history. Japanese scholars today are finding various and imaginative ways of using the concept of gender to analyse the history of European countries. This book is a showcase for their research.