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

by Avril Maddrell

Overview

In this important volume, Avril Maddrell traces the often overlooked contributions of women to the study of geography, and illustrates how women played a significant role in the development of the field as an academic discipline. Exploring the careers of female geographers, including Mary Somerville, Gertrude Bell, Eva Taylor, Alice Garnett, Marjorie Sweeting and Anne Buttimer from 1850 to 1970, Maddrell delves into individual biographies that illuminate the evolving role of British women geographers with reference to women in European and American geography, other disciplines, and in the context of winder socioeconomic, political and educational developments.

Was geography ever an exclusively male domain? This research shows that it was not. However, by examining further the extent to which women were included or excluded both from the halls of academia, geographical societies and field research, we can consider the discipline's power relations and their implications for women in geography today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781444399585
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	06/20/2011
Series:	RGS-IBG Book Series , #61
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	2 MB

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 viii

List of Tables x

Preface xi

Series Editors' Preface xiii

Acknowledgements xiv

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

2 Women and British Geographical Societies: Medals, Membership, Inclusion and Exclusion 27

3 Marion Newbigin and the Liminal Role of the Geographical Editor: Hired Help or Disciplinary Gatekeeper? 60

4 Women Travellers: Inside or Outside the Canon? 80

5 Women in Geographical Education: Demand for Geography Teachers and Teaching by Example 123

6 Diplomas, Degrees and Appointments: The First Generation of Women Geographers in Academia 152

7 Fieldwork and War Work: Interwar University Geographers 188

8 The War Years and Immediate Post-War Period 231

9 University Expansion, Specialisation and quantification: 1950-70 269

10 Conclusion: Mapping the 'Hidden' Women in British Geography 1900-70 313

Notes 340

Bibliography 357

Index 393

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