Women and Work through a Comparative Lens

Publication type: 
Book
Author(s): 
Nena Vandeweerdt
Citation: 

Vandeweerdt N. (2025) Women and Work through a Comparative Lens. Leuven University Press.

Description: 

Urban Markets and Women’s Labor: Navigating Institutional Boundaries in Premodern Europe  Women played a crucial role in medieval and early modern urban economies, yet their labor opportunities varied greatly depending on local institutions. This book compares the guild-structured labor markets of Antwerp and Mechelen in Brabant with Bilbao’s informal economy in Biscay during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By analyzing these distinct institutional contexts, it offers a multifaceted understanding of women’s economic roles in premodern Europe. Drawing on a wide range of legislative and judicial sources, Vandeweerdt demonstrates how legal frameworks, socioeconomic structures, and individual strategies shaped women’s activities in small-scale trade. Bridging institutional analysis and personal agency, Women and Work through a Comparative Lens sheds new light on the interplay between labor organization and everyday practices in premodern Europe.

Year of publication : 
2025
Publisher: 
Leuven University Press
Reference number: 
ISBN: 9789462704947