Overview
This collection of original essays focuses on the rich, historically diverse, and often misunderstood experiences of Amish, Mennonite, and other women of Anabaptist traditions across 400 years. Equal parts sociology, religious history, and gender studies, the book explores the changing roles and issues surrounding Anabaptist women in communities ranging from sixteenth-century Europe to contemporary North America. Gathered under the overarching theme of the insider/outsider distinction, the essays discuss, among other topics: how womanhood was defined in early Anabaptist societies of the 16th and 17th centuries, and how women served as central figures by convening meetings across class boundaries or becoming religious leaders; how 19th-century Amish tightened the connections among the individual, the family, the household and the community by linking them into a shared framework with the father figure at the helm; the changing work world and domestic life of Mennonite women in the three decades following World War II; the recent ascendency of anti-modernism and plain dress among the Amish; and the special difficulties faced by scholars who try to apply a historical or sociological method to the very same cultural subgroups from which they derive. The essays in the collection follow a journey through time and place to give voice to women who are often characterized as the ""quiet in the land"". Their voices and their experiences demonstrate the power of religion to shape identity and social practice.
Full Product Details
Author: Kimberly D. Schmidt ,
Diane Zimmerman Umble (Acting Director of the Center for Academic Excellence and, Millersville University) ,
Steven D. Reschly (Truman State University)
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint: Johns Hopkins University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 3.10cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.748kg
ISBN: 9780801867866
ISBN 10: 080186786
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 19 April 2002
Recommended Age: From 17
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
<p>This collection represents a fresh and much needed approach to Anabaptist studies.--Esther Epp-Tiessen Conrad Grebel Review (01/01/2004)
<p> Strangers at Home makes a major contribution to our understanding of Anabaptist history and the ongoing construction of Anabaptist identity. Moreover, in investigating the role of religion and ethnicity in framing the choices available to individuals and communities, the essays in Strangers at Home consider the historical construction of gender in Anabaptist cultures in the larger context of women's history and, in so doing, question assumptions about the field of women's history itself. -- Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, Mennonite Quarterly Review
Author Information
Kimberly D. Schmidt is an assistant professor of history and director of the Washington Community Scholars Center of Eastern Mennonite University. Diane Zimmerman Umble is chair and an associate professor of communications at Millersville University. Steven D. Reschly is an associate professor of history at Truman State University.
