Fundraising, Flirtation and Fancywork examines the history and development of the charity bazaar movement in Australia. Transported from Britain, the charity bazaar played an integral role in Australian communal, social and philanthropic life from the early days of European settlement. Ranging in size and scale, from simple sales of goods to month long extravaganzas, charity bazaars were such a popular and successful means of raising revenue that they sustained the majority of the nation’s major public and religious institutions. The nineteenth-century charity bazaar was a paradox. On the one hand, it encapsulated responsibility and civic duty through its raison d’etre, which was the provision of support for charitable causes. On the other, it encouraged a loosening of social and gendered restraint as women of the middle and upper classes repositioned themselves in a public space where the acquisition of material goods, gambling and flirting with men was actively encouraged. From their inception, bazaars were the domain of women. They provided middle and upper class women with an opportunity to exercise their organisational, creative and social skills outside the domestic sphere, within a framework of socially acceptable philanthropic endeavour. Women’s dominance and public role in charity bazaars destabilised conventional gender relations. The nucleus of the charity bazaar was the fancywork produced by women for sale on the stalls. Bazaars were an accessible and important repository for the display and sale of women’s creative work and the bazaar movement was instrumental in shaping women’s fancywork. Bazaars were revered and reviled in colonial Australia. Despite the criticisms and the many social and cultural changes that occurred in nineteenth-century Australia, charity bazaars continued to escalate in number, popularity and complexity. They predated and influenced the great international exhibitions and the development of larger shops and emporiums and by the end of the century, had evolved into themed entertainment and shopping spectacles known as grand bazaars. Charity bazaars mirrored and shaped the social customs, mores and fashions of their time and are a rich, largely untapped, interdisciplinary historical source.

In gold-rush Australia, social identity was in flux: gold promised access to fashionable new clothes, a grand home, and the goods to furnish it, but could not buy gentility. Needlework and Women's Identity in Colonial Australia explores how the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters who migrated to the newly formed colony of Victoria used their needle skills as a powerful claim to social standing. Focusing on one of women's most common daily tasks, the book examines how needlework's practice and products were vital in the contest for social position in the turmoil of the first two decades of the Victorian rush from 1851. Placing women firmly at the center of colonial history, it explores how the needle became a tool for stitching together identity. From decorative needlework to household making and mending, women's sewing was a vehicle for establishing, asserting, and maintaining social status. Interdisciplinary in scope, Needlework and Women's Identity in Colonial Australia draws on material culture, written primary sources, and pictorial evidence, to create a rich portrait of the objects and manners that defined genteel goldfields living. Giving voice to women's experiences and positioning them as key players in the fabric of gold-rush society, this volume offers a fresh critical perspective on gender and textile history.

Charity bazaars were a key method women used to intervene in political, social, and cultural affairs. Bazaar Literature reorients our understanding of Victorian social reform fiction by reading it in light of the copious amount of literature generated for charity bazaars--which shaped the social, political, and literary movements of its time.

Chinese Diaspora Charity and the Cantonese Pacific, 1850–1949 sheds new light on the history of charity among Chinese overseas and its place in the history of charity in China and in the wider history of global philanthropy. It finds that diaspora charity, besides serving traditional functions of helping the sick and destitute and supporting development in China, helped to build trust among dispersed hometown networks while challenging color boundaries in host societies by contributing to wider social causes. The book shows that charitable activities among the “Gold Rush” communities of the Pacific rim—a loosely integrated émigré network from Guangdong Province perhaps better known for its business acumen and hard work among English-speaking settler societies in North America and Australasia—also led the way with social innovations that helped to shape modern charity in China. Fitzgerald and Yip’s volume demonstrates that charity lay at the heart of community life among Chinese communities overseas. From remittances accompanying letters to contributions to benevolent organizations, emigrants transferred funds in many different ways to meet urgent requirements such as disaster relief while also contributing to long-term initiatives like building schools or hospitals. By drawing attention to diaspora contributions to their host societies, the contributors correct a common misunderstanding of the historical Chinese diaspora which is often perceived by host communities as self-interested or disengaged. This important study also reappraises the value of charitable donations in the maintenance of networks, an essential feature of diaspora life across the Cantonese Pacific. “Fitzgerald and Yip’s fascinating collection is a major contribution to the growing study of charity and its relationship to social welfare. The essays show how remittances were used for much more than family support. The book fills a large gap on the almost unrecognized importance of charity among Cantonese communities in the Chinese diaspora.” —Diana Lary, University of British Columbia “This collection is a great contribution to our understanding of how important charity became among overseas Chinese in the early stages of the diaspora—between 1850 and 1949. Philanthropy was crucial in the creation of trust networks among the diasporic communities that earned Chinese recognition to the overseas communities both in China and in their host countries.” —Sue Fawn Chung, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Kindergarten Narratives on Froebelian Education showcases the latest scholarship and historical understandings concerning the casting of the kindergarten idea abroad: across cultures, continents and centuries. Each chapter reveals previously unknown narratives of intrepid endeavour, political pragmatism and pedagogical innovation that collectively provide insight into the transformation of Froebel's ideas on early education into a global phenomenon. Across global contexts, each chapter presents a case study of the ideas scattering abroad, illustrative of the movement of ideas, curricula and pedagogical change; in effect taking the kindergarten beyond the geographies and pedagogies of its German beginnings and borders. Chapters draw on historical examples of Froebelian education from The Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, the UK and the USA. In the journal History of Education in 2006, Froebelian history scholar Professor Kevin J. Brehony (1948-2013) lamented the 'relative neglect' of the history of early years education at the same time there was a heightened global social and political interest in educating the young child. In this book, an international team of contributors respond to Brehony's suggestion that historical perspectives can play a role in current debates and suggest ways historical narratives might inform policies and practices in twenty-first century early childhood education, care settings and contexts. Reconnecting past lessons and insights with present and future concerns for early education, young children and their place in society, this important collection also includes an historical timeline charting the spread of Froebelian education ideas and kindergartens across the world.

Funding Philanthropy investigates Dr Barnardo’s practices as the leading Victorian figure in child rescue in London, particularly focusing on devices associated with story-telling and public spectacle that facilitated evoking emotional responses that would lead to active support from constituents across boundaries of age, class or race.

This edited book draws on a cross-cultural and historical lens to theoretically and practically analyse gambling regulations and the use of gambling revenue. It takes on a broad spectrum of perspectives, from the origin of the money, to the regulators, operators and beneficiaries of gambling, and looks at the interests, networks and power relations involved. This multidisciplinary collection elicits a shift in analysis, shedding light on a broader societal, historical and economic view of gambling and gambling policies, by its attention to implicit networks of power, influential legislation, gambling provision and infrastructure. Gambling Policies in European Welfare States will be of interest to students and scholars alike who are seeking cross-national and interdisciplinary analyses of welfare, politics, sociology and economics.