Berteke Waaldijk

Reading Anne Frank as a woman

Abstract In 1986 the complete and unabridged diaries of Anne Frank were published. It turned out that there were two versions of the diary, both written by Anne Frank during the years she and her family spent in hiding during the german occupation of the Netherlands. The first-incomplete-version consists of the original diary entries; the second is a rewritten version Anne prepared with a view to post-war publication. A comparison of the two versions with the world-famous Diary of a Young Girl confronts the reader with interesting differences that shed new light on Anne Frank as a woman writer. In this article, special attention is paid to the literary influences on Anne Franks writing, especially that of a Dutch woman writer.

Mission Interrupted: Gender, History and the Colonial Canon

Current debates on the canonization of historical knowledge often focus on national canons. These are criticized for their exclusively national focus and their exclusion of ‘deviant’ or dissenting memories and experiences. The histories of women and migrants, for example, have often been absent from national canons. Women’s lives were regarded as private and domestic experiences, and therefore irrelevant to a national canon defined by state formation and nation-building. In a similar perspective, the transnational experiences of migrants were depicted as a problem for the nation rather than an integral part of its history. Since canonized historical knowledge is taught in schools and, in a popularized form, is often seen as a requirement for active citizenship in contemporary post-colonial societies, the call for alternative forms of canonized knowledge is timely.

Information about the activities of the ‘Network for Historical Studies on Gender and Social Work in Europe’ (www.sweep.uni-siegen.de). The foundation of the network in 2001 and further activities

In 2001 we founded the Network for Historical Studies on Gender and Social Work in Europe in Mainz (Germany) as a joining together for researchers whose activities are located in the field of welfare history and gender studies. In the beginning there were about 20 scholars from 15 countries who decided to work together continuously. Since then over 100 participants from 24 countries have taken part in the meetings of the Network (2002 in St. Gallen; 2003 in Belfast; 2004 in Helsinki and Prague) or contributed some ideas or articles. In 2002/2003 we edited the first collection of texts about the history of social work in Europe in English and German: Sabine Hering & Berteke Waaldijk (Hg.), Geschichte der Sozialen Arbeit in Europa 1900 /1960. Wichtige Pionierinnen und ihr Einfluss auf die Entwicklung internationaler Organisationen (Opladen, 2002); Sabine Hering & Berteke Waaldijk (Eds), History of Social Work in Europe. Female Pioneers and their Influence on the Development of International Organisations (Opladen, 2003). In 2002 we applied successfully for financial support for a research project at the Volkswagen Foundation in Germany. The project ‘History of Social Work in Eastern Europa’ started in 2003 (see for more information: http://www.sweep.uni-siegen.de).

Charitas zonder wetenschap is als een schip zonder roer

Begin januari overleed Marie Kamphuis op 96-jarige leeftijd. Daarmee kwam een einde aan het leven van een markante persoonlijkheid. Vanaf de Tweede Wereldoorlog zette Kamphuis haar stempel op het Nederlandse maatschappelijk werk. Ze gaf de beroepsopleiding voor maatschappelijk werkers vorm, pleitte voor methodisch handelen, en streed vóór professionele onafhankelijkheid en tégen kerkelijke liefdadigheid.

Information about Social Work Archives in Europe on the Net

There is a lot of information about the history of social work and gender on the internet. But (very often the problem with the internet) where can you find it?

Towards a ‘Women’s History’ of Social Work in Europe

The twentieth century has witnessed a rapid development in the field of social welfare in Europe. Over several decades, and within all countries in Europe, modern and professional forms of social welfare have supplemented or even replaced traditional forms of communal relief, self-help organizations of the poor and organized bourgeois philanthropy. This major shift involved new legislation, new state expenditures and new definitions of citizenship. Social work was the crucial location where the practice of modern and professional welfare was elaborated. It has grown into an essential component of civil society in Europe which: creates new connections between citizens and the state; forges social cohesion and new forms of social exclusion and; mitigates against some of the harsh effects of poverty and inequality. Even where social work has been blamed for being slow, limited or plainly counterproductive in its effects, the profession constitutes, to a large extent, the practice of social welfare, making its contributions to the debate about the ‘social future’ of Europe indispensable.

International Information Center and Archives for the Women’ s Movement (IIAV)

The IIAV in Amsterdam is the vade mecum and broker of information and documentation for anyone involved in the position and history of women. The collections cover all aspects of the position of women in the past and in the present, also ‘women and social work’.

Start where the Client is

Near the end of World War II, in the winter of 1944 a young Dutch woman was writing a paper about the history of social work. The school of social work, where this woman was the director, was closed because of fuel shortage. Surrounded by books from the university library she wrote a paper that combined erudition with the practical experience of an ambitious woman who had made social work her profession. Marie Kamphuis (born in 1907) described how motives and aims, areas of specialization, practitioners, financing and methods of social work had changed through the centuries. She called the result of her historical research ‘Uit de Voorgeschiedenis’ (about the ‘prehistory’) because she was convinced that the real history of professional social work had not yet begun. Did she already know at that moment that she herself would play a key-role in the ‘real history’? Did she know that she would personally exert a determining influence on the discussions about motives and aims, areas of specialization and practitioners of social work, and that she would help to improve and renew professional methods? Whether she did or not, today historians cannot ignore the role of this grand old lady in the intriguing history of Dutch social work.

„Dort ansetzen, wo der Klient ist“

Im Winter des Jahres 1944 schrieb eine junge Frau, umgeben von Buchern aus der Universitatsbibliothek, einen Beitrag uber die Geschichte der Sozialarbeit. Wegen Brennstoffmangels war die Schule fur Sozialarbeit, an der sie Leiterin war, geschlossen. Der Beitrag, den sie damals schrieb, machte sowohl ihre umfassende Bildung als auch ihre praktische Erfahrung deutlich — Eigenschaften einer ehrgeizigen Frau, die die Sozialarbeit zu ihrem Beruf gemacht hatte.

Internationales Informationszentrum und Archiv der Frauenbewegung (IIAV)

Das IIAV in Amsterdam verschafft Zugriff auf praktisch alle vorhandene Informationen im Allgemeinen zur Stellung der Frau in der Gesellschaft und speziell zur nationalen und internationalen Frauenbewegung. Auch zum Thema ‚Frauen und Sozialarbeit‘ bieten unsere verschiedenen Sammlungen unseren digitalen und leiblichen Besuchern eine Fulle an Material.