Gender and Ennoblement in the Austrian Empire. The Transformation of the Nobility in the Context of the Women’s Question

Women's emancipation was a centuries-long process that took different forms across regions. In the Habsburg monarchy, as elsewhere in Europe, noble titles signified elite status and service to the state. Titles were typically conferred on men, reflecting their legal and social dominance. However, hereditary nobility meant that women often shared in the privileges of their husbands or fathers. Direct ennoblement of women was rare and usually tied to marriage with Habsburg princes. Yet in the 19th century, a few Austrian women were ennobled for their own achievements. These women were exceptions, not the rule, within a male-dominated honor system. Still, their recognition marked a shift in the monarchy’s view of women's public roles. The practice reflected changing ideas about merit, gender, and service to the dynasty. Though few in number, such cases signalled a broader transformation underway.

In the male-dominated theatrical world of early twentieth century China, actresses strategically relied on personal connections to survive. As “public” women and agents of mass media, they were utilized by men for different purposes. Theatrical managers and male audiences were intent on turning actresses into sexual objects in licentious plays, whereas nationalist reformers recruited actresses for mass mobilization. Actresses participated in the nation-building cause by presenting diverse human roles via the stories that either conveyed new ideologies or historical values. The fictional plots of women's emancipation, however, provided a learning process in which actresses could adopt the concepts of personal rights, self-determined marriage, and economic autonomy. The Chinese states, despite minor variations, always sustained ideals of gender distinctions and opposed or restrained women's public roles. The stories of actresses' survival and prosperity, nonetheless, demonstrated the tremendous endurance, flexibility, intelligence, and strength of Chinese women.

In the midst of prolong conflict and the delay of reconciliation, Indonesian government provides a special autonomy to the Aceh people to implement Islamic laws ( sharia' ) in the sociopolitical realms. Yet, for Aceh women the implementation of sharia' creates discriminative regulations such as enforcement to wear jilbab and curfew for them. Many recent political policies are totally disregarding Aceh women as part of the Aceh society. Various local regulations (qanun) that proposed by local government are not gender-sensitive and put forward violence in doing conflict resolution. Local autonomy brings the oppression of women's roles in the society. Historically, Aceh women have significant roles in shaping cultural identity of Aceh society. In the past, the interpretation of sharia' recognized and supported women's leadership in the society. Hence, a new approach to put back women's public roles in order to participate in reconciliation process of the Aceh society is needed. Key words: Aceh special autonomy; Islamic laws; women's role; gender inequality

One of the more useful recent developments in feminist historiography has been the turn away from the simple binarism of public/ private in discussions of the social activities of early modem women in western cultures. In particular Dena Goodman's work on the salons of ancien regime France has recovered the public work of women in the private institutions of sociability that operated in distinction to court and state.1Goodman's understanding of the public sphere is Habermasian in that it understands the public to have been a highly ramified ideal, entailing the antique concept of publicum as the depersonalized authority of state, the idea of public as a discursive space in which the vox populi can speak in distinction to the dictates of the state, and as an array of private institutions-clubs, coffeehouses, tea tables, salons-that constituted an autonomous region of political and cultural power. Women operated differently in light of the different forms of public in which they participated. One could make a quick and crude distinction: Women of the court in the absolutist public sphere exerted influence through secrecy, intrigue, and deception; one might say they were feminized and privatized. The salonnieres, in contrast, molded public opinion by sponsoring and participating in a liberty of conversation; they were publicizers of philosophy and maimers.What does Goodman's renovation of the understanding of women's public roles in France have to do with the historiography of the early republic? It permits us to question the all-powerful dominion of the domesticity thesis in the historiography of women.2The domesticity thesis holds that republican ideology entirely constrained woman's work within the world of the private household. Goodman's work permits us to imagine for early America a fully formed woman's domain in the public sphere, an arena of expression where domesticity does not restrict communication, or republican ideology limit women's roles to virtuous daughter, wife, and mother. She gives us as an alternative to the practice of the salon. The great salons were superintended by women who set mies for conversation, enforcing politeness by wit and quashing incivility with charm. The salonnieres promoted a colloquy between persons of state, savants, artists, and women of taste. The company was exclusive, but not so much in tenus of class or nationality as in terms of talent and conversational skill. The conversation of the salon became the crucible in which the ideas of politicians and philosophers were tried.Let us imagine for early America a space where femmes savantes might speak freely about politics with politicians, art with artists, gentility with gentlemen, and even the theory and practice of domesticity if they so chose. It should have the cosmopolitanism of the French salon-with its +heterosociability-yet there should be something more, an interest in forming a civil sorority found in certain British women's circles. We can visualize a domain of private society that, while permitting mixed conversation, also enabled women to project public concerns-to reform manners, cultivate taste, and critique culture. For the sake of argument, let us also conceive that this domain, or community, is organized so that it can project its views throughout the continent, say by means of a network of subsidiaiy provincial salons. Or let us be more concrete: Let us imagine Abigail Adams not in the meditative solitude of her household in Braintree, but at the center of a metropolitan company of men and especially women of learning, sensibility, and taste. And let us imagine this company actively publicizing an ideal of civility.Such an institution did exist during the final decade of the eighteenth century in America. It was called the Republican Court. Until the rise of the progressive historians early in this century, the Republican Court and its doings were matters of common knowledge among literate Americans. …

This entry presents the history of the Austrian Empire from its genesis to 1867. Its main focus is upon the political history of the empire, its consolidation in the 16th century, and its evolution through the middle of the 19th century. Topics include: marriage alliances and acquisition of territories; Reformation and Counter‐Reformation; the Habsburg monarchy or empire's status in Europe and its relationships with its neighbors, specifically the Ottoman Empire and Prussia; relationships between the Habsburg monarchy and the Holy Roman Empire; wars, the revolution of 1848, and the Austro‐Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The entry addresses differences in the status of different territories in the empire – most notably Hungary and Bohemia – attempts to impose centralization, and the resulting discontents. It concludes with a discussion of the federalization of the empire in 1867 tracing its roots back to the empire's creation in the 16th century.

The article examines the formation of central government bodies and the system of administrative-territorial organization of the Austrian Empire of the specified period. The political-legal system and administrative structure of the Kingdom of Hungary are analyzed, as well as the process of its incorporation into the Habsburg Monarchy. The territorial changes of the Austrian state as a result of the three divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth are studied. It is stated that the political system of the empire for a long time was based on the absolute power of the monarch under a strictly estate-based system of society, and the process of centralization of state administration in it began to intensify especially in the 18th century. It is argued that the Pragmatic Sanction (1713) was formally the first regulatory act regarding all Austrian lands. The legal status of the emperor and the scope of his powers are analyzed. It is stated that the management of the internal affairs of the Austrian Empire was carried out by the Privy Council and the Privy Chancellery. The process of evolution of these bodies is shown, as well as the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers, which at that time was responsible for managing four areas: internal affairs, international relations, education and military affairs. The Habsburgs equalized the rights of all confessions, considering their leaders as a specific category of civil servants. It is stated that the act of constitutional content was the Pragmatic Law of 1804, by which the emperor recognized his title and the unity of the state as hereditary for himself and his descendants. The territorial changes of the Austrian lands as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and the decisions of the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) are analyzed. It is stated that since that time the territory of the Habsburgs was clearly delineated and remained unchanged until 1918. The model of the relationship between the governorships and the Court Chancellery as the central governing body is determined. The structure of the system of sources of law of the Austrian Empire and the procedure for their publication and bringing to the attention of the population are analyzed. The process of ennoblement (obtaining nobility) in the estate-based Austrian Empire is studied. It is stated that at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. in the Habsburg monarchy, the formation of modern bureaucracy, the formation of official law, the introduction of the «candidate style» took place. At the same time, it is noted that, having turned into a holistic system, the bureaucracy began to be characterized by typical negative features. It is established that the impetus for the renewal of the bureaucratic system was given by constructive transformations of the middle of the 19th century. The activities of civil servants were placed under the control of newly created legislative and representative bodies and civil society. Own conclusions are proposed from the analyzed material.

As part of a social experiment designed to create a modern, Westernized society out of a mostly rural, conservative population, the Turkish state, founded in 1923, gave women rights still radical for the time. However, these reforms by the feminist state did not evolve as a result of demands originating within society, but were imposed from above. The state's ideal of the modern Republican woman left out the majority of women beyond a small urbanized elite. Furthermore, state feminism did not concern itself with what happened behind closed doors, but focused on expanding women's public roles. Nevertheless, these dramatic reforms have expanded the realm of possibilities for Turkish women of all classes and allowed development of a more individualist feminism. The debates continue, but Turkey is one of the most important success stories of women's empowerment in the early twentieth century.

If effective involvement of women in development projects is to take place, then concerted efforts must be made at both the policy level and at the level of organising and managing of projects to do this. This article explores some of the ways in which this could be done and some of the organisational difficulties which might arise. Using two extended case studies of Integrated Rural Development Programmes which had extensive commitments to the women residents of the region, this paper explores the ways in which women can be hired and trained to be field staff as well as the methods which could be used to utilise village women as so‐called peasant staff on a local level. Ways in which the popular participation of local women can be ensured are discussed. In all these levels of participation, local mores on women's public role, as well as the social constraints which limit women's participation in the extra‐domestic life of the community — things such as limited education, child care, and the female labour...

This chapter presents a case study of data from Kuwaiti college students that tests Samuel Huntington's (1996) of civilizations thesis. It also goes a step further to challenge Inglehart and Norris's thesis which asserts that issues of gender are the most poignant issues of cultural conservatism, which will leave a gap between modernizing countries. The chapter highlights Kuwait as a country which is breaking this thesis by incorporating a model for religious traditionalism and progressive modernism when it comes to women's political rights. But first, a brief review of Kuwait's history will summarize the progression of women's public roles until modern times. Demographic control variables include: gender, age, income, mother's education, and marital status. The example of gender and politics in Kuwait offers a counterpoint to Huntington's of civilizations thesis and offers a more complicated picture. Keywords: clash of civilizations; co-existence model; contemporary Kuwait; women's political rights

Reviewed by: Islam in Contention: Rethinking Islam and State in Indonesia ed. by Ota Atsushi, Okamoto Masaaki, and Ahmad Suaedy Iqra Anugrah (bio) Islam in Contention: Rethinking Islam and State in Indonesia. Edited by Ota Atsushi, Okamoto Masaaki, and Ahmad Suaedy. Jakarta: Wahid Institute; Kyoto: Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies; Taipei: Academia Sinica Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies. 2010. 468 pp. Islam in Contention covers recent developments concerning Islam in Indonesia's political processes, with a particular focus on state-Islam relations, the strategies Islamic groups pursue to gain political influence, and how such dynamics shape the discourse about the proper role of Islam in Indonesian society. In the introduction, the three editors state that the primary aim of the book is to "reveal the dynamism and diversity of the current thoughts and movements surrounding Indonesian Islam," (p. 12) rather than to provide a comprehensive theoretical monograph of Islam and politics in Indonesia. The book also tries to bridge the gap between activists and scholars, and, consequently, the editors have included the works of members of non-governmental organizations as well as academics in this volume. The first part of the book, "Islam and Social Justice," juxtaposes normative and empirical approaches to state-Islam relations. In the first essay, Masdar F Mas'udi discusses the compatibility between Islam and modern societal institutions, such as democracy, a market economy, human rights, and social welfare. He argues that the Islamic conception of an ideal state is a democratic welfare state. In the second essay, Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao responds to Mas'udi's Islamic political vision by contrasting the gap between that vision and political realities. Hsiao highlights the challenges and difficulties of translating Islamic political ideas into modern state institutions. Hsiao also points out the need for Islam-inspired political ideas to deal with the diversity of society. In part two, "Contemporary Contentions over Islam," the authors, who are mostly activists, share their insiders' perspectives to shed light on issues that have generated considerable controversy in Indonesia over the past years, such as the adoption of shari'a regulations, the writing of a counter legal draft of the Islamic law compilation, the pornography bill, and violations of minorities' religious freedom. In chapter three, Abubakar Eby Hara discusses the changing context in which debates about shari'a regulations occur, highlighting how groups that are advocating shari'a regulations now invoke freedom of speech and freedom of religious practices to support the implementation of shari'a regulations. In chapter four, Marzuki Wahid, a member of the team that proposed the counter legal draft of the Islamic law compilation (Counter Legal Draft-Kompilasi Hukum Islam, CLD-KHI), describes controversies surrounding CLD-KHI, especially from the mainstream Islamic perspective of Indonesia's established religious institutions like Indonesian Council of Clerics (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, MUI). Abdur Rozaki writes in the fifth chapter about the politics of the pornography bill as expressed in the views of supporters and opponents of the bill, from both the national parliament and society. In chapter six, Ahmad Suaedy shares his experience from being personally involved in various movements promoting [End Page 181] cultural pluralism and freedom of religion in Indonesia against an increase in violence against minorities perpetuated by Islamic fundamentalist organizations. The third part of the volume shifts to the role Islamist social movements and political parties have played in influencing politics since 1998. In "Strategies in Struggle," Fahlesa Munabari discusses the rhetoric of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), whereas Okamoto Masaaki underlines the Islamist Partai Keadilan Sejahtera's (Justice and Welfare Party, PKS) pragmatic strategies in local politics through a case study of Banten province. In chapter nine, Sasaki Takuo's essay shows how the Indonesian government—particularly under the Yudhoyono administration—projects itself as the promoter of moderate Islam in the midst of anti-Ahmadiyah sentiments. In the collection's fourth section, "Discourse and Practice of Islam in Society," Kobayashi Yasuko presents an essay on the changing perspectives of Nahdlatul Ulama's (NU, the Awakening of Religious Scholars) discussion forum for legal issues (BM, BahtsulMasa'il) with regard to women's public role. In chapter eleven, Syuan-yuan Chiou explains the politics of "Chinese theory," which...

While Puritan divinity hewed closely to contemporary limitations on women's public roles, its promoters took seriously the spiritual needs of female parishioners and incorporated the feminine into their discourse. Marriage, if not theoretically between absolute equals, was based upon mutual affection, and it is clear that ministers were emotionally bound to their beloved spouses and took ‘godly’ women seriously as advisers. But women, while the weaker sex, retained the power to subvert the stronger sex, and so must behave modestly. Men who beat their wives behaved badly and were liable to censure. Women did take part in religious life in the home and were frequent participants when religion controversy went into the streets.

In recent years, the naked body movement as a form of women’s resistance against the expansion of the extractive industries in Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) has drawn less attention from academics. This movement significantly redefines women's public roles and drives social development. This research explores the meaning of women's naked body movement based on Hannah Arendt’s theory of action. This research uses a qualitative approach, including a literature review, a document study, and critical analysis. This study indicates that the women's naked body movement in NTT is a political action because it is challenging and subverting structural and political injustice, transforming the negative association of nudity into positive power. This movement transforms the woman's body from a laboring and working body to a political body. This politicization of sexuality has drawn public attention to the female body, making it a form of politics itself. The transformation redefines the female body as a powerful site of resistance against state authority, capitalist exploitation, and patriarchal control.

In this essay the metaphorical linkage of femininity with national decay in Cartas marruecas is examined as a reaction to women's unprecedented involvement in contemporary Spanish public life and as a precursor to their consignment in the next century to the private arena as a result of the ideology of separate spheres. The study shows that Cadalso shared the ambivalence of his peers among Spain's reformist elite towards women's public role in Enlightenment Spain. The narrative of Cartas marruecas conveys this sense, on the one hand, by shutting women out of its construction of contemporary Spanish society and, thus, effacing their agency in national life, and, on the other, by representing women and the broader conceptual category of femininity through metaphors that equate women with an uncivilized Other and imply that their public activities imperil national progress.

This chapter focuses on prohibitionist temperance reform ideology and women's municipal enfranchisement in the early 1880s that worked to incorporate acts of democratic citizenship into the feminine public sphere. Temperance reform, and more specifically prohibition, created space for British women in local electoral democracy. Female temperance reformers' involvement in prohibition presented a greater challenge to gender roles than moral suasion. While moral suasion was related to the idea of women's ‘complementary nature’, where prohibition's stress on a legislative means of temperance reform highlighted the limits of women's public role. The paucity of work on both female temperance reform and the women's movement in Scotland makes it difficult to evaluate the relative importance of prohibition for the politicisation of middle-class women in Scotland. Furthermore, an examination of the British Women's Temperance Association Scottish Christian Union (BWTASCU's) participation in the suffrage campaign demonstrates that constitutional suffragism was composed of a more diverse range of organisations than that which has been acknowledged.

While Ellen Terry's Shakespearean roles are commonly discussed in considerations of her work, the actress's involvement with the comic play Nance Oldfield is glossed over if not entirely overlooked. However, Terry bought the rights to this play, revised the script with Bram Stoker, performed the leading role, and invoked this semi-fictional figure across the latter part of her career. This essay examines public theatrical ephemera in conjunction with personal photographs of Terry dressed up as Oldfield at home and the extensive marginalia on Terry's copy of the script to argue that Terry's assumption of ‘Nance Oldfield’ was a rhetorical performance. Terry's alliance with this character, as an on-stage character and an off-stage alter ego, led her to speak with greater confidence about her own professional life and about women's public role in nineteenth-century England.