Complex Locations: Women's Geographical Work in the UK 1850-1970 / Edition 1

by Avril Maddrell

Overview

This enlightening book makes visible the lives and works of women who played a critical role in the development of geography as an academic field.

• A rare and detailed analysis of the geographical work of 30 individual women geographers from 1850 to 1970
• Includes oral histories from women who have held appointments in British universities since World War II
• Makes the work of women geographers visible and challenges the notion of pre 1970s geography as an overwhelmingly masculine field
• Makes an important contribution to debates about the theoretical and methodological framing of the historiography of geography

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405145558
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	05/04/2009
Series:	RGS-IBG Book Series , #51
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Avril Maddrell is a social, cultural and historical geographer, specializing in gender and geographical thought. She has taught at Westminster College in Oxford, the Open University, Oxford Brookes University, and is currently Senior Lecturer in Geography at the University of the West of England in Bristol. Dr Maddrell's research for this volume has been supported by the British Academy.

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Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

1. Putting Women in their Place: Women in the Historiography of Geography.

2. Women and British Geographical Societies: Medals, Membership, Inclusion and Exclusion.

3. Marion Newbigin and the Liminal Role of the Geographical Editor: Hired Help or Disciplinary Gatekeeper?

4. Women Travellers: Inside or Outside the Canon?

5. Women in Geographical Education: Demand for Geography Teachers and Teaching by Example.

6. Diplomas, Degrees and Appointments: The First Generation of Women Geographers in Academia.

7. Fieldwork and War Work: Interwar University Geographers.

8. The War Years and Immediate Post-War Period.

9. University Expansion, Specialisation and Quantification: 1950–70.

10. Conclusion: Mapping the ‘Hidden’ Women in British Geography 1900–70.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"With this book, the history and historiography of modern geography - always engaging and much revitalised of late - will be invigorated yet further. At once a work of scholarly research, sensitive biography and theoretical enquiry, Complex Locations places women where they have always been in British geography - at its heart. It will interest many and deserves to be widely read."
–Charles W J Withers , University of Edinburgh

"This book is based on highly original and scholarly research and fills a notable absence in historiographies of Geography. It will be a valuable addition to debates about gender and feminism within the discipline."
–Cheryl McEwan , Durham University

"As the first book length study of early women geographers in Britain, Complex Locations will be essential reading for feminist geographers and historians of the discipline. Drawing on wonderfully rich and original archival research, the book explores the important but often forgotten work of women as academics, educationalists and travellers in shaping British geography since the nineteenth century. By studying their lives and work through its engaging biographical and contextual analysis, the book is vitally important not only in illuminating the long history of geographical work by women, but also in understanding the history of the discipline and the gendered production of knowledge more broadly."
–Alison Blunt , Queen Mary, University of London

Editorial Reviews

"Complex locations should be included on all undergraduate courses about the history of the discipline, and should be read widely by other researchers interested in women and the history of geography, science and education." (Area Book Reviews, 1 November 2010)

From the Publisher