Call for Papers

Special Session:

Beggars in modern cities. Inclusion and exclusion of begging paupers during the formation period of urban welfare politics, 1830s - 1930s.

This section will focus on one aspect of the development of what was in German research termed the modern "social" or "welfare city"; an aspect which is best able to reveal the problematic criteria and practices of inclusion and exclusion in the field of social care, namely the ways the urban authorities treated beggars. For this a deliberately wide time period will be examined so as to be able to take into consideration the very different speed of development and to allow a comparison between old and new practices in urban policies towards beggars.

In most European countries begging had been forbidden by governmental decrees and laws since the early modern period, and this fight against begging was intensified during the 19th century. Local authorities linked their provision of the poor with a meagre living to their willingness to accept public work or to be put into workhouses. They required them to be members of the municipality or parish and remain in it. However, this neither brought an end to the practice of begging nor did it stop vagrancy, which is closely connected to it. Especially the big cities attracted beggars and had to cope with supporting as well as disciplining them.

The institutional and legal framework of urban social politics, which developed - not necessarily synchronically - during the period given, is well known. But very little research has been done so far on the concrete practices of inclusion of paupers and especially of vagrant beggars into the local welfare systems or on their exclusion from help. We still know very little, for example, about the division of labour between urban, private or religious welfare institutions, the connection between strategies of exclusion and inclusion of the poor and the part of jurisdiction and police in these processes. And we know especially little on the perceptions and modes of behaviour of the poor themselves.

Two perspectives on this topic promise particularly important insights into the development of urban welfare politics and should therefore serve as a focus for this section:

Firstly this section is to consider the question of how in 19th and early 20th century European cities the discourses on and practices of the treatment of beggars continued to be influenced by different religious traditions. Not only in the middle ages but also during the early modern period beggars were perceived by Catholic theology and social doctrine not as dangerous people on the margins of society but as images of Christ. Charity, therefore, was a religious duty furthering individual salvation. As the secular parishes' responsibility for the poor increased, even in catholic countries this point of view was questioned and poverty was identified with dodging work. Nevertheless, religious traditions continued to influence the attitudes of individuals as well as institutions towards beggars far beyond the early modern period. This section will therefore look into the persisting differences between Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox denominations in this respect and into their influence on social practices. It has to be asked how religious differences in this field continued even after the social and natural sciences offered new explanations for deviant behaviour in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Secondly this section is to focus on the aspect of gender. German sources seem to suggest that begging became a sphere that was increasingly dominated by men. During the 19th century the number of women (and children) amongst beggars seems to have declined in spite of their particularly high risk to fall into poverty. Is this a general European trend? What could be the explanation for it? Were women less forced into begging because they had more chances of receiving social support? Was police behaviour towards begging or vagrant women more lenient or were they simply more likely to be sorted into a different category, for example were they counted as prostitutes? Was there a change in the perception of the poor themselves as to whether begging was reconcilable with male or female role models or with male or female honour?

The session will allow time for five papers (in English or French). We welcome proposals from all parts of Europe, which contribute to at least one of these two leading aspects and open up questions for an international comparison. If yow are interested in participating please e-mail an abstract (up to 500 words) to the session organisers:

Prof. Dr. Andreas Gestrich
Universitaet Trier
Fachbereich III - Neuere Geschichte
D - 54286 Trier
E-mail: gestrich@uni-trier.de

Dr. Beate Althammer
Universitaet Trier
Sonderforschungsbereich 600
D - 54286 Trier
E-mail: althamme@uni-trier.de