Women in the Nordic Enlightenment: Changing the narratives of early modern philosophy and uncovering women’s contribution to Scandinavian gender equality

Introduction

The Enlightenment attracts a lot of scholarly attention due to its relevance for the emergence of modern philosophical thought and the identity of present-day Europe. Yet, women’s contribution to the Enlightenment has been largely ignored. WHENCE will fill this research gap in an original and groundbreaking way by focusing on an hitherto overlooked geographical region, namely Europe’s North.

Objectives

By targeting the writings of Scandinavian women, WHENCE will provide results that describe the Nordic way of women’s Enlightenment. The guiding hypothesis is that this Nordic way significantly differs from developments prevalent in other regions of Europe, and that women played a decisive role in creating a sustainable identification of the Nordic countries with gender equality.

The overall objective of WHENCE is to uncover and critically assess women’s intellectual contribution to the Nordic Enlightenment. This investigation includes two further objectives:

1. To change the standard narratives of the development of the Nordic Enlightenment.
2. To assess women’s role in the emergence of Scandinavian gender equality.

Research Questions

The project aims to answer the following questions:

• What was women’s intellectual contribution to the Nordic Enlightenment?
• How does women’s thought change our understanding of the individual and of society during the early modern period?
• What was the impact of women’s thought on the emergence of Scandinavian gender equality?

Methodology

To adequately investigate women’s writings, the project uses various methods in an original way. It combines classical philosophical analysis and archival research with new insights developed in gender studies and feminist history of philosophy.

Moreover, WHENCE has a strong interdisciplinary outlook and uses the new tool Trajectories to relate historical findings to contemporary debates.

Relevance

Given the persistence of gender inequality in today’s society, the threats women are facing in the public sphere, and the upheaval caused by the MeToo movement, this project is essential and timely.