Julia Bowes

Julia Bowes, lecturer in gender history at the University of Melbourne and author of Every Man's Home a Castle, traces how nineteenth-century fights over schooling, vaccination, and child labor forged parental-rights politics. She explores coalitions from anti-vaxxers to business groups. Bowes links legal doctrine, race, and gender to the rise of modern conservative resistance to state authority over children.

Julia Bowes, lecturer in gender history and author of Every Man's Home a Castle, traces how nineteenth‑century fights over schools, vaccines, and labor laws birthed modern parental rights politics. She charts coalitions from immigrants to anti‑vaccine activists and shows why schools became the main battleground for state power. The conversation ranges from legal battles to racial and class exclusions shaping today’s rhetoric.

Dr. Julia Bowes, a historian of gender who wrote Every Man's Home a Castle, traces the nineteenth-century roots of the parental rights movement. She explores how schools, vaccine mandates, and child labor laws galvanized a diverse coalition defending fathers' household authority. The conversation highlights law, local schooling conflicts, race, and how disparate groups forged a national conservative force.