44th Issue of the Yearbook for Women's History: Feminism and the making of the built environment from past to present

Gender theorists and activists often highlight the historical notion that “cities are made by men.” But is this entirely true? Or does this perspective omit and erase critical aspects of history? The scarcity of women in the architectural canon compels us to ask: why is this the case? What were – and are – the institutional gatekeepers that systematically excluded women, people of colour, and other marginalized groups from the proverbial drawing board, nowadays and in the past? Recent research into these questions has uncovered a wealth of historical information that challenges the supposed absence of women and other marginalized groups from architectural history and theory.

Feminist critiques of urban planning and development from the 1980s and 1990s exposed how the built environment often failed to accommodate everyday practices tied to female roles. This failure was largely attributed to the lack of female representation in planning structures. But feminism is about more than simply the presence of women. It is a critical lens and theoretical framework through which the nature and impact of gender inequality can be explored. As such, feminist architecture challenges entrenched norms and reimagines how spaces are designed and inhabited. Starting from this premise, the Yearbook of Women’s History aims to examine how the built environment was shaped within and beyond the confines of architects' offices. How have local authorities, clients, building firms, activist organizations, and knowledge institutions been influenced by feminist ideas, intersectional perspectives, or decolonial thought on architecture? How have feminist contributions influenced the development of buildings, districts, and entire cities? And in what ways were such perspectives excluded or ignored?

For the 44th issue of the Yearbook of Women’s History (guest editors: Lidewij Tummers and María Novas), we invite contributions that explore feminist architectural practices in past and present – whether through built projects, design approaches, or biographies. How have feminist frameworks (re)shaped our understanding of architecture and urban planning? How were women involved in the making of houses, institutional buildings such as asylums, schools, prisons, monasteries, shops, markets, governmental buildings? Whose stories remain untold, and what can we learn from them?

CALL FOR PAPERS
We are looking for articles that vary in length (3000-6000 words). We will also consider experimental pieces – poems, short explorations, visual essays, and creative interventions. We welcome contributions that employ different perspectives and scales of analysis from all over the world. We invite authors from academia, museums and cultural and heritage institutions, NGOs, and activist organisations. We welcome contributions from a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to architecture, history, cultural studies, anthropology, and social and cultural geography.

Abstracts of 200-300 words are to be submitted by 1 May 2025 to jaarboekvrouwengeschiedenis@gmail.com.

Lidewij Tummers, Feminist Architect and Researcher
María Novas, Senior Lecturer and Scientific Researcher, ETH Zürich

Tentative timeline:
1 May 2025: Deadline for abstracts
30 May 2025: Information concerning acceptance sent to the writers
15 September 2025: Submission deadline for articles to be submitted to peer review
February/March 2026: Revised articles due
April/May 2026: Copy-editing
September 2026: Publication