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Maternity Policy and the Making of the Norwegian Welfare State, 1880-1940

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  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Anna M. Peterson

    1. Luther College, Decorah, IA, USA

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  • Assesses the influence that women had on Norwegian maternity legislation from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century
  • Examines how feminists, midwives and working girls shaped maternity policy, considering the poor and rural, and the urban and middle-class
  • Utilises previously unused sources from Norwegian regional and national archives

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introduction

    • Anna M. Peterson
    Pages 1-24

  3. “What Nature Itself Demands:” The Development of Maternity Legislation at the End of the Nineteenth Century

    • Anna M. Peterson
    Pages 25-60

  4. “For the Health of the People:” Public Health and the Compensation of Maternity Leave in the 1910s

    • Anna M. Peterson
    Pages 61-99

  5. “Protecting Mothers and Children:” The Castbergian Children’s Laws and Maternity Assistance for Single Mothers in the 1910s

    • Anna M. Peterson
    Pages 101-122

  6. “Getting the Most Money Possible:” Women’s Responses to the Implementation of Maternity Laws, 1916–1930

    • Anna M. Peterson
    Pages 123-161

  7. “Mothers’ Freedom Is the Key to Women’s Emancipation:” Feminist Efforts to Expand Maternity Legislation in the Interwar Period

    • Anna M. Peterson
    Pages 163-202

  8. Conclusion

    • Anna M. Peterson
    Pages 203-210

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 211-221
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Keywords

About this book

This book traces women’s influence on maternity policy in Norway from 1880-1940. Maternity policies, including maternity leave, midwifery services and public assistance for mothers, were some of the first welfare policies enacted in Norway. Feminists, midwives, and working women participated in their creation and helped transform maternity policies from a restriction to a benefit. Situating Norway within the larger European context, the book contributes to discussions of Scandinavian welfare state development and further untangles the relationship between social policy and gender equality.


The study of poor, rural women alongside urban middle-class feminists is rooted in an inclusive archival source base that speaks to the interplay between local and national welfare officials and recipients, the development and implementation of laws in diverse settings, the divergent effects maternity policies had on women, and women’s varied response.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Luther College, Decorah, IA, USA

    Anna M. Peterson

About the author

Anna M. Peterson is Assistant Professor of History at Luther College, USA. She has published a number of articles on the history of women's rights in Norway. In 2016 she became the first historian outside of Norway to receive the Norwegian Historical Association’s award for the most innovative contribution to their journal, the Journal of Norwegian History.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Maternity Policy and the Making of the Norwegian Welfare State, 1880-1940

  • Authors: Anna M. Peterson

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75481-9

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-75480-2Published: 26 June 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09243-6Published: 26 January 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-75481-9Published: 13 June 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 221

  • Number of Illustrations: 9 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Social History, Labor History, History of Modern Europe, Women's Studies, Cultural History

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