Libraries in women’s lives: a rhythmanalytical study

Spencer-Bennett, Kate Emily (2021). Libraries in women’s lives: a rhythmanalytical study. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis is about the library’s place in women’s education and everyday life. It suggests that there is a connection between these two things, and that this connection has often been overlooked in accounts of the library’s significance. The research investigates this by attending to rhythm, as understood by the French philosopher Henri Lefebvre. It captures rhythm through an analysis of narratives told by 25 women in public libraries in the Hall Green area of Birmingham. Through an examination of place and time and the energies which women have expended in and around the library, it argues that libraries rhythm the lives of the women who use them. Libraries take their place in relation to other aspects of women’s everyday lives such as work and family. And, through the library, this research suggests, women enter into shared, social rhythms. The study therefore addresses a gap in understandings of the library’s educational significance. It offers a richer account of the importance of the ‘social’ in the value of the library than is sometimes presented. And, through this attention to rhythm, and to women’s accounts, it furthers a conversation about conceptualisations of time.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):