Harriet Martineau and the Birth of Disciplines : Nineteenth-century intellectual powerhouse

Harriet Martineau wrote in the mid-nineteenth century when new disciplines and areas of knowledge were being established. Reflecting her prodigious achievements, this volume explores her influence on emerging fields such as economics, sociology, history, education, science, economics, childhood, the status of women, disability studies, journalism, travel writing, life-writing, and letter writing. This wide-ranging collection confirms her place as one of the leading intellectuals, cultural theorists and commentators of the nineteenth century.

One of the foremost writers of her time, Harriet Martineau established her reputation by writing a hugely successful series of fictional tales on political economy whose wide readership included the young Queen Victoria. She went on to write fiction and nonfiction; books, articles and pamphlets; popular travel books and more insightful analyses. Martineau wrote in the middle decades of the nineteenth century, at a time when new disciplines and areas of knowledge were being established. Bringing together scholars of literature, history, economics and sociology, this volume demonstrates the scope of Martineau''s writing and its importance to nineteenth-century politics and culture. Reflecting Martineau''s prodigious achievements, the essays explore her influence on the emerging fields of sociology, history, education, science, economics, childhood, the status of women, disability studies, journalism, travel writing, life writing and letter writing. As a woman contesting Victorian patriarchal relations, Martineau was controversial in her own lifetime and has still not received the recognition that is due her. This wide-ranging collection confirms her place as one of the leading intellectuals, cultural theorists and commentators of the nineteenth century.