Erased - by Patricia Owens (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The academic field of international relations presents its own history as largely a project of elite white men. And yet women played a prominent role in the creation of this new cross-disciplinary field. In Erased, Patricia Owens shows that, since its beginnings in the early twentieth century, international relations relied on the intellectual labour of women and their expertise on such subjects as empire and colonial administration, anticolonial organising, non-Western powers, and international organisations. Indeed, women were among the leading international thinkers of the era, shaping the development of the field as scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals--and as heterosexual spouses and intimate same-sex partners. Drawing on a wide range of archival sources, and weaving together personal, institutional, and intellectual narratives, Owens documents key moments and locations in the effort to forge international relations as a separate academic discipline in Britain. She finds that women's ideas and influence were first marginalised and later devalued, ignored, and erased. Examining the roles played by some of the most important women thinkers in the field, including Margery Perham, Merze Tate, Eileen Power, Margaret Cleeve, Coral Bell, and Susan Strange, Owens traces the intellectual and institutional legacies of misogyny and racism. She argues that the creation of international relations was a highly gendered and racialised project that failed to understand plurality on a worldwide scale. Acknowledging this intellectual failure, and recovering the history of women in the field, points to possible sources for its renewal."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

How a field built on the intellectual labor and expertise of women erased them

The academic field of international relations presents its own history as largely a project of elite white men. And yet women played a prominent role in the creation of this new cross-disciplinary field. In Erased, Patricia Owens shows that, since its beginnings in the early twentieth century, international relations relied on the intellectual labour of women and their expertise on such subjects as empire and colonial administration, anticolonial organising, non-Western powers, and international organisations. Indeed, women were among the leading international thinkers of the era, shaping the development of the field as scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals--and as heterosexual spouses and intimate same-sex partners.

Drawing on a wide range of archival sources, and weaving together personal, institutional, and intellectual narratives, Owens documents key moments and locations in the effort to forge international relations as a separate academic discipline in Britain. She finds that women's ideas and influence were first marginalised and later devalued, ignored, and erased. Examining the roles played by some of the most important women thinkers in the field, including Margery Perham, Merze Tate, Eileen Power, Margaret Cleeve, Coral Bell, and Susan Strange, Owens traces the intellectual and institutional legacies of misogyny and racism. She argues that the creation of international relations was a highly gendered and racialised project that failed to understand plurality on a worldwide scale. Acknowledging this intellectual failure, and recovering the history of women in the field, points to possible sources for its renewal.

Review Quotes

"Important. . . . Owens wants us to shake up the whole curriculum. While framed as a story primarily about the study of international relations, this book actually holds a message for any discipline--and for anyone who cares about inclusion."---Geertje Bol & Jan Eijking, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Erased is a ground-breaking book. . . . A rigorous and pioneering account, featuring intellectual biographies that make for captivating reading."---Cormac Shine, International Affairs

"As humanities departments shrink and streamline, Patricia Owens reminds us that erasure impoverishes us all."---Emily Baughan, Times Literary Supplement

"[Erased] successfully challenges the masculine, selective story of IR, brings women's work to light and excavates the interlinked hierarchies, those of race, class, empire, sexual identity etc, that work to marginalise the women. . . .Owens' milestone work invites future research that could pull more deeply on these threads. Overall, Erased is a must read for any serious student of the discipline. In highlighting these erasures, the book also reminds a new generation of female IR scholars the value of their own work and scholarship."---Shireen Manocha, LSE Review of Books

"A valuable contribution to feminist and intellectual history."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

About the Author

Patricia Owens is professor of international relations at Oxford University and a fellow of Somerville College. She is the author of Between War and Politics: International Relations and the Thought of Hannah Arendt and Economy of Force, and the coeditor of Women's International Thought: A New History and Women's International Thought: Toward a New Canon.