Separating Spheres?

Abstract

Although there were still plenty of women in business in a wide range of capacities at the turn of the twentieth century, new developments were beginning to erode some of those women’s positions and opportunities: the spread of partnership and the patrimonialization of the firm; the increasing equation of the firm with the lineage; the emergence of self-conscious industrial dynasties that privileged male successions; the appearance of shareholding societies and, finally, gentrification. The evolution, however, was not linear—the new models did not gradually replace old ones, but grew alongside them. More importantly, many families continued to cling to the traditional distribution of responsibilities within the household that included active roles for women.