Women's History - ein Fach macht Geschichte

Abstract

Women's History has achieved visible presence in the academy and an influence to European Women's Studies. Early feminist scholarship was directly connected with politics. Thirty years later we have to recognize an unbridged gap between social movements and sophisticated scholarship. The article deals with questions resulting from the distance between a master (academy) and a mistress (women's movement). Women's History as a field of historical analysis is more than Contribution History. lt stresses the discussion of methodological and analytical tools. The main points have been gender as a useful category to study the system of gender relations (Joan W. Scott) and a conceptual framework for dealing with differences among women (Gerda Lerner).