ASPASIA, the International Yearbook of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European Women's and Gender History, invites submissions on the theme "Women and Violence".

DEADLINE: September 15, 2016

Violence has shaped the lives of women in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe in fundamental ways. Beyond the impact and experiences during wartime, violence has penetrated the societies of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe from the personal to the state level. Historically, the widespread acceptance of and often, juridical sanction to domestic beatings, the liberal application of corporal punishment, including sexual assault, as well as the psychological torture and emotional abuse have served to normalize violence in personal and communal relationships. The experiences of war and political terror at home, in concentration camps, or on a refugee’s road to salvation add another dimension to the scope of violence in the region. At the same time, gender has played a role in determining the nature, extent, application, and limits to violence. Women as well as men have acted as both victims and perpetrators of violent acts.

In this issue, Aspasia seeks to explore the ways that violence has framed and affected the historical experiences of women in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. We welcome historians of women and gender in the region to reflect on the theme of women and violence. How has violence – in all forms and at any level – cast women’s experiences? How has gender shaped state and/or personal responses to violence? What were the limits of their victimization? How did the law address abuse against women, and how did it interpret crime committed by women? What motivated women to participate in or contribute to violent acts? What were the forms of their manifestations?

In addition to the specific theme of Women and Violence, we welcome submissions on all topics related to women’s and gender history in CESEE on an on-going basis.

Submissions of up to 8,000 words (including notes) can be sent to aspasia[at]ceu.edu or to Melissa Feinberg at mfeinberg[at]history.rutgers.edu.

For more information, please write to one of the editors or visit Aspasia web-site, where you can also download the ASPASIA Guidelines for Authors.