Traditional histories of the French Third Republic often overlook the extent to which concerns about the place of women and the health of the family influenced the course of government policy, particularly the direction of welfare reform. Combining the approaches of social and political history, this book offers a new perspective on women's lives in the Third Republic by looking at the attitudes, actions, and policies of the men who held political power. Addressing themes in the newly invigorated field of welfare-state history, contributors to this volume offer evidence that social reform in France began far earlier than is usually supposed and was a response by republican politicians and social activists to a declining population growth rate. As this demographic crisis inspired efforts to improve maternal and child health and increase the birth rate, motherhood was redefined as a public mission deserving of public support.
- ISBN10 0801850606
- ISBN13 9780801850608
- Publish Date 1 August 1995
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 31 March 2000
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 272
- Language English