Date Thesis Awarded
5-2023
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
International Relations
Advisor
Amy Oakes
Committee Members
S.P. Harish
Ayfer Stump
Abstract
In my thesis I propose that sustained and sizeable male outmigration fosters stronger civic engagement among the women that are left behind. In whaling communities on the southeastern coast of Norway, in the county of Vestfold, men left on whaling expeditions for large parts of the year over the course of many generations. The women they left behind experienced greater physical and fiscal autonomy which resulted in them being able to take on more roles both within and outside the home. These conditions fostered greater civic engagement among the Norwegian whaling wives. Women's active engagement in civil society within the whaling communities also had broader implications for the successful implementation of welfare policies and the enfranchisement of women.
Recommended Citation
Westgaard, Katrine Roderburg, "Stranded At Home: How the Absence of Men in Norwegian Whaling Communities Fostered Women's Civic Engagement" (2023). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1962.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1962
