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Viola Klein (1908–1973) was a sociologist in Great Britain. Her work demonstrated that objective ideas about women´s attributes are socially constructed. Although her early training was in psychology and philosophy, her most prolific research engagements concerned women´s social roles and how these changed after the Industrial Revolution. She was one of the first scholars to bring quantitative evidence to bear on this socio-economic topic. Her research not only illuminated the changing roles of women in society, but she also wrote and lectured on concrete social and political changes that would help facilitate these new roles. ==Early life== Viola Klein was born in Vienna in 1908 to a Jewish family. As a young student she moved to Prague with her family owing to political circumstances after studying one year at the Sorbonne University in Paris and a short period at the University of Vienna. She continued her studies at the University in Prague and graduated in fields of psychology and philosophy. During her studies in Prague she worked as an assistant editor. Besides psychology and philosophy, she was also interested in French literature. Her first doctoral thesis was about the linguistic style of the modernist French author Louis-Ferdinand Celine (Lyon 2007, p. 831). Because of her interest in the woman question she visited the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Inspired by this visit she wrote several articles in British magazines about “double speak” (Lyon 2007, p. 832). It represented the new role of women in society, marriage and the family.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=University of Reading - Archive and Museum Database - Details )〕 In 1938 she and her brother migrated to England. Shortly after fleeing, Viola's parents died in a Nazi concentration camp. As Jewish refugees, Viola and her brother had problems finding work in England. For a short period of time she worked as a domestic servant until she finally received a scholarship from the Czech government operating in exile (Lyon 2007, p. 832). This enabled her to enroll in the London School of Economics and to work on her second doctorate diploma. During her studies in London she met the well-known sociologist Karl Mannheim, who became her supervisor. Because of their similar cultural background they were interested in similar social issues, literature and art. Both of them were collecting information and ideas relating to her thesis while traveling across the country between different universities. In 1946 Viola Klein published her second thesis, one of her best known publications - The Feminine Character: History of an Ideology. This publication was criticized because of its ostensibly militant feminism which departed from the traditional views and values. Her encouragement of women to work if they so desired, was perceived by critics as a destructive social force, provoking destabilization and family problems.〔 Viola worked in relatively lower status positions as editor, translator and teacher. However, she continued her research working on female employment in Great Britain (Lyon, 2007, p. 834). Starting in 1951 she collaborated with the Swedish sociologist Alva Myrdal and together they eventually published the book Women´s Two Roles: Home and Work. This publication helped her to increase her involvement in international research activities. In 1964 she was offered her first academic post as lecturer in the Sociology department at the University of Reading in Great Britain. After 3 years she was promoted to senior lecturer and in 1971 to reader. In 1973, shortly after her retirement she died at the age of 65.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Viola Klein」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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