| At the end of the nineteenth century, home economics emerged as an academic discipline in higher education. Theorists of the movement advocated a changed vision of society based in new ideas about the domestic environment. Home economists professionalized a body of knowledge and practice that had hitherto been considered private and natural. Leaders of the movement incorporated new ideas of scientific management and vocational education into their discipline. The predominantly female leaders of the movement gathered a rich assortment of disciplines under one roof. Social science and hard science, urban planning and clothing design as well as courses that prefigured women's study curricula found a place within home economics. Focusing on the movement between the years 1900 and 1945, This dissertation describes how founders of home economics conceptualized their discipline, how they secured cultural and academic authority for it and themselves and to what extent the movement they created was successful in its goals. |
