Paris
May 2026
Deadline for proposals – 31 January 2026
It is indisputable that experiences of mobility and migration have been part of the reality of life for many women and girls – not only in recent history. The mobility of women, whether as daughters, wives, or widows, as workers, nuns, entrepreneurs, or activists, was associated not only with gender-specific expectations, but often also with specific experiences that varied depending on factors such as social and geographical origin, status, age, religious, ethnic, and family affiliation.
The planned workshop at the German Historical Institute in Paris picks up on this and asks how historical actors reflected on, interpreted, and communicated experiences of mobility that contradicted previous expectations. We want to engage in a trans-epochal dialogue and therefore invite contributions from the early modern period to contemporary history.
The history of gender-specific mobility, especially female mobility, has become an established topic of historical research over the past twenty years. In contrast to older assumptions, recent research has not only revealed the extensive extent of female mobility but has also highlighted the wide range of different experiences of women and girls. The spectrum ranges from female educational and marital mobility, to urban-rural migration of female servants and other forms of labor mobility, to mobility in the context of family migration or political activism, whether in local or cross-border settings. Recent work has mostly emphasized female agency and the opportunities and possibilities associated with mobility, such as securing a livelihood, social advancement, and self-determination. However, women’s mobility often came with particular constraints, challenges, and disappointments that influenced their experiences and decision-making processes and, in turn, shaped future expectations and retrospective memories. Explicit forms of forced mobility (e.g., expulsion, flight, slavery) are not to be included here.
The tension that arises between individual and societal expectations and contradictory experiences will be explored in greater depth during the workshop. The expectations and experiences of mobile actors themselves will be considered, as well as interpretations and reflections by third parties (e.g., relatives, institutions, scholars, peers) on female mobility and its contradictions, as expressed in letters, diaries, memoirs, and travelogues, but also in public debates, the media, official writings, and tracts on female mobility. Accordingly, the workshop asks how historical actors interpreted discrepancies between expectations and experiences. The focus is therefore not on measuring the objective success or failure of mobility or migration policy, but on perceptions and attributions of meaning in the face of such experiences.
Recent studies on historical ‘failure’ have shown how varied interpretations of disappointed expectations were. For example, they could be relativized as partial successes or important life experiences, denied by assigning blame, or openly presented as tales of woe or calls to action. The question of which of these interpretations actors chose in which contexts and with what intention takes into account the agency of the actors, on the one hand, and opens up new insights into the expectations and perceptions of female mobility, on the other.
The planned workshop invites historians and researchers from related disciplines (e.g., historical gender studies, literary studies, etc.) to jointly focus on disappointed expectations associated with women’s mobility since the 17th century.
Contributions are welcome on topics including but not limited to:
– Gender roles and individual and societal expectations of female mobility in different contexts
– Individual and collective interpretations of disappointing mobility experiences and their impact on decision-making processes
– Effects of “failed” or “disappointing” female mobility on gender images (e.g., the immobile woman), gender relations, and women’s scope for action
– Media and administrative narratives about female mobility and disappointing mobility experiences
– Perceived factors of “failed” female mobility and their intersectional interrelationships
– The significance of family networks and family status on mobility experiences
– Methodological problems and challenges in researching female mobility experiences
A joint publication in English is planned. We therefore request only previously unpublished material.
The conference languages are English and French.
Please send your topic proposal (abstract of 300 words) together with a short CV (1 page) by January 31, 2026, to [email protected]
