Gendered Stereotypes and Female Entrepreneurship in Southern Europe, 1700-1900

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Introduction

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 1-12

3. Familiocracy in the Greek Business Elite Class: Endogamy and Other Cultural Traits

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 13-55

4. Women and Economic Input in Independent Greece (Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries)

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 57-94

5. Gendered Entrepreneurship and Cottage Industry of the Greek-Speaking Communities in the Ottoman Balkans

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 95-137

6. Women’s Path to Economic Autonomy in Italy

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 139-153

7. Rural Women’s Economic Contribution to Agricultural Work in Southern Europe

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 155-176

8. Female Entrepreneurship and Guilds in Southern Europe

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 177-205

9. Gendered Prejudices and the Economic Setting in Romania and Bulgaria

   • Polly Thanailaki

   Pages 207-228

10. Conclusions

    • Polly Thanailaki

    Pages 229-233

11. Back Matter

    Pages 235-236

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This book addresses issues that remain under-researched by feminist historians. They pertain to female economic contribution in specific geographical areas and countries such as Greece, Italy, a number of regions of France, Greek-speaking regions in the Ottoman-ruled Macedonia, and two countries in the Balkans: Romania and Bulgaria. Additionally, it compares and contrasts female economic agency in the above regions which is a field that hitherto lacks thorough study. Polly Thanailaki explores female contribution to the finances of their family and to the economy of their country and how they interlaced in a transnational historical setting, further exploring social norms and trading practices in these regions. The methodology is based on the study of original printed sources such as archives, newspapers, and journals of the period, along with secondary sources of literature. The book addresses the nexus of gender, economy, and society covering a broad spectrum of gender studies, economic history and social history in time and in geographic space.

• Gender studies
• endogamy
• Female guilds
• economic autonomy
• familiocracy

• International Hellenic University, Glyfada, Greece

  Polly Thanailaki

​Polly Thanailaki holds a Ph.D. in modern history from Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, USA. Her previous publications include Gender Inequalities in Rural European Communities During 19th and Early 20th Century (2018, Springer). Her field of research is based on modern history where she mainly focuses on female education and culture, as well as on gender equality in an international perspective.

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