Women and Republicanism

The history of republican philosophy has long been regarded as an exclusively male endeavour. In recent years, scholars have highlighted and restored the undeniable republican contributions of a select group of women. Bergès and Coffee here collect ten essays that examine the important philosophical contributions made by women to the history of republican political thought. The contributors reveal the depth and richness of women’s political thought within the republican paradigm. They highlight the history of women’s exclusion in republican discourse, not only as citizens and thinkers but even within the masculine-coded language and ideas embedded in its key terms, such as virtue, that have been transmitted across generations. Alongside chapters on figures whose republican contribution has been well attested, such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Catharine Macaulay, the volume also highlights the work of lesser known republican scholars, including by French (Louise de Keralio, Germaine de Staël), Italian (Rosa Califronia), Brazilian (Nísia Floresta), Turkish (Halide Edip, Nezihe Muhiddin) and African American women (Maria Stewart, Harriet Jacobs, Anna Julia Cooper). Women in Republicanism broadens the conversation about republican history from its Anglo and North American core to embrace a more global understanding, particularly in the context of emancipatory struggle.

Sandrine Bergès writes books and articles on women in the history of philosophy, including Mary Wollstonecraft, Sophie de Grouchy and Olympe de Gouges. She runs the blog Feminist History of Philosophy and is one of the founders of the new SWIP-Turkey. She took leave in 2024 from her position at the University of Bilkent, Ankara to become the British Global Professor at the University of York.

Alan Coffee teaches social and political philosophy at King’s College London. His research
concerns theories of political freedom, justice and power, particularly the civic republican
conception of freedom. He has a special interest in the work of eighteenth and early
nineteenth-century women and African-American writers.