Women’s Leadership in European and Transatlantic Political and Intellectual History
Gender, Authority and the Formation of Women’s Modern Political Culture
Overview
The event will be convened in Potsdam from 12 to 15 October 2026 as part of the wider launch framework of the international research initiative marking the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” and the associated interdisciplinary project on Enlightenment Europe and the formation of modern intellectual life.
It constitutes a dedicated academic programme examining the historical development, key moments, intellectual trajectories, and formative figures, books, texts and networks that have contributed to the formation of women’s modern political culture in European and transatlantic contexts.
The programme examines women’s participation in and contribution to the structures and practices through which political authority, knowledge production and cultural exchange were constituted in Europe and across the Atlantic world from the eighteenth century onwards.
