The Incorporated Wife

Hilary Callan, Shirley Ardener (Herausgeber)

Buch | Hardcover

232 Seiten

2022
Routledge (Verlag)
978-1-032-29552-7 (ISBN)

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Originally published in 1984, this book touches the private lives and professional responsibilities of men and women, as it illustrates the comic as well as serious effects of the ‘incorporation’ of wives into some important State and commercial institutions. Beyond their domestic functions, wives have, in particular ways, been valuable props to many a husband’s career and many an employer’s and the nation’s interests. For example, the Army, civil administrations at home and overseas, and the police have, without questioning, depended on the services of wives – given silently, willingly or unwillingly. Yet the nature of the relationship of these ‘incorporated’ wives to the objectives of such institutions has, until recently, been largely unregistered in practice, unrecorded in social and historical accounts and unstudied by analysts.

This book provides a wealth of ethnographic material. Personal anecdotes and scholarly interpretations throw light on the conceptual systems underlying the workings and cultures of institutions, as well as the construction of identities. Many will find their experiences echoed here.

The issues raised are important not only for individual men and women, for whom such ‘incorporation’ may provide advantages as well as constraints, but because of the bearing they have on our understanding of marriage, especially since we cannot be sure this will continue in its present mode or as the dominant form of conjugal union. As more married women assume greater responsibilities at work, will their husbands give the same support to their wives and those who employ them as they themselves received? Further, it seems likely that wives may become less willing than in the past to render their services unacknowledged – indeed this trend is already apparent. We may ask, then, ‘who will fill the gaps?’, and ‘how will institutions change?’. The historical and contemporary studies here provide some base data and some theoretical approaches necessary for any who may wish to consider what will become increasingly acute practical questions.

Hilary Callan and Shirley Ardener

Preface Shirley Ardener 1. Introduction Hilary Callan 2. Incorporation and Exclusion: Oxford Academics’ Wives Shirley Ardener 3. Ambivalence and Dedication: Academic Wives in Cambridge University, 1870-1970 Lidia Sciama 4. Police Wives: A Reflection of Police Concepts of Order and Control Malcolm Young 5. Camp Followers: A Note on Wives of the Armed Services Mona Macmillan 6. The Suitable Wife: Preparation for Marriage in London and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe Deborah Kirkwood 7. Shell Wives in Limbo Soraya Tremayne 8. The Negation of Structure: A Note on British Council Wives Isobel Clark 9. Settler Wives in Southern Rhodesia: A Case Study Deborah Kirkwood 10. Colonial Wives: Villains or Victims? Beverley Gartrell 11. Memsahibs in Colonial Malaya: A Study of European Wives in a British Colony and Protectorate, 1900-1940 Janice Brownfoot. Bibliography. Indexes.

Erscheinungsdatum	17.08.2022
Reihe/Serie	Routledge Library Editions: Women and Work
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	138 x 216 mm
Gewicht	612 g
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Gender Studies
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Mikrosoziologie
ISBN-10	1-032-29552-X / 103229552X
ISBN-13	978-1-032-29552-7 / 9781032295527
Zustand	Neuware