A History of Feminist and Gender Economics

This book offers a historical exploration of the genesis of feminist economics and gender economics, as well as their theoretical and methodological differences. Its narrative also serves to embed both within a broader cultural context. Although both feminist economics and gender neoclassical economics belong to the cultural process related to the central role of the political economy in promoting women’s emancipation and empowerment, they differ in many aspects. Feminist economics, mainly influenced by women’s studies and feminism, rejected neoclassical economics, while gender neoclassical economics, mainly influenced by home economics and the new home economics, adopted the neoclassical economics’ approach to gender issues. The book includes diverse case studies, which also highlight the continuity between the story of women’s emancipation and the more recent developments of feminist and gender studies. This volume will be of great interest to researchers and academia in the fields of feminist economics, gender studies, and the history of economic thought.

Introduction Chapter I. Woman question and political economy. I.1 Women economists in Great Britain between classical liberalism and Fabianism I.1.1 The classical liberal tradition during Victorianism I.1.2 The socialist tradition between Fabianism and Guildism I.2 Woman question in Austria and Germany: Jewishness and political economy I.2.1 The classical liberal tradition in Austria and the Austrian school women economists I.2.2 The socialist tradition in Austrian women economists I.2.3 Early feminism and political economy in Germany. I.3 Woman question in the United States: political economy between abolitionism and social reforms I.3.1 The fight for civil rights I.3.2 Women’s emancipation within economic departments and the role of female entrepreneurship. Chapter II. Home economics, household economics, and new home economics in the United States. II.1 The birthing of home economics II.2 Household economics at the University of Chicago II.3 From household economics to the new home economics Chapter III. The genesis and development of feminist economics within academia III.1 The role of women’s studies in the emerging of feminist economics III.2 Feminist economics: from CSWEP to IAFFE III.3 Feminist economics’ analytical and methodological core III.4 Feminist Economics: the academic journal III.5 Possible interconnections between feminist economics and other major heterodox approaches Chapter IV. Latest developments of gender studies in economics IV.1 Gender as a cultural category IV.2 Gender feminist economics IV.3 Gender neoclassical economics IV.4 Beyond labels: some data about gender gaps in the world economy IV. 4.1 Gender labor gap IV.4.2 Gender wage gap IV.4.3 Gender entrepreneurship gap Appendix: Timeline. Woman question and political economy. The genesis of feminist economics and gender neoclassical economics Index of names

Giandomenica Becchio is Senior Researcher of Economics and Professor of History of Economic Thought and Methodology of Economics at the University of Turin, Italy.