Kollegium Talks: How can history inform current gender politics and policy?
Channel: Helsinki Collegium
Date: 15/12/2021

Speakers: Robert Mason (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (HCAS), University of Edinburgh) and Louise Settle (HCAS)

13.12.2021 at Think Corner Stage, University of Helsinki

Description:
Most people would agree that understanding the past is important for understanding the present, but how far should we take this? What role should historical research play in shaping contemporary policy and politics? Focusing particularly on the context of gender history, this discussion will elaborate on some of the ways in which historical knowledge could be used to understand contemporary gender politics and to further gender equality today. It will also feature two case studies. First, Louise Settle will explain how historical knowledge about domestic violence and probation could be used to inform current criminal justice policies. Second, Robert Mason will share his analysis of how politicians in the United States and the United Kingdom interpreted, and responded to, the arrival of a ‘gender gap’ in voting during the 1980s and beyond.