Austria has experienced extraordinary change and turmoil during this and the previous centuries. Nevertheless, the study of its culture and history tends to be overshadowed by that of its larger neighbors, Germany and Russia; this applies even more so to the study of Austrian women, who suffer a double marginalization within this configuration.

However, the climate is changing, and Women's Studies in particular is becoming a recognized academic field not only in its own right, but also as a constitutive part of Austrian Studies in general. This volume, the first one of its kind in English, represents an important contribution.

It brings together scholars from different disciplines who address the history of women in Austria, as well as their place in contemporary Austrian society, from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, thus shedding new light on contemporary Austria in the context of its rich and complicated history.