Women As Australian Citizens: Underlying Histories

(Paperback)

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What does it mean to be a woman citizen in Australia today Why have Australian women appeared so rarely in public political life, despite gaining the vote in 1901 Women as Australian Citizens addresses these questions. In this challenging and original work the authors argue that from its earliest European origins, the word 'citizen' has acted as a term of division. Patricia Crawford, Philippa Maddern and their associate authors investigate how gender has been used as a marker and justification for inclusion and exclusion. They show how women from many different backgrounds, have, over centuries, rethought and rewritten their own citizenship, and argue that the legacies of these historical debates still underlie community understandings of modern Australian citizenship.

Author Bio

Professor Patricia Crawford teaches history at the University of Western Australia. Her chief research interest is the history of women in England 1500-1800, and she has also published and edited work in Australian history, including Women and Citizenship: Suffrage Centenary, a recent volume of Studies in Western Australian History. Associate Professor Philippa Maddern teaches history at the University of Western Australia. She has researched extensively into the social and gender order of late medieval England and has also published on twentieth-century Australian history and women's literature.