Introduction: Minorities, gender, and contested urban spaces special issue

While studies on urban minorities have interested scholars in history, sociology, ethnography and geography for a full century, ‘minorities within minorities’ are more often than not absent. Gendered groups within ethnic or religious minorities in the modern metropolis experienced doubled- or even tripled marginalisation in the urban landscape. This introduction provides an overview of the scholarly work that has been done on ethnic/religious and gendered minorities in the modern era (1750-1950). It points out the strengths and promises of the current field, but more importantly, shows that due to lack of traditional sources, the field needs to push methodological boundaries and find new ways to bring back these voices into scholarly research. Mediating on some possible avenues, the introduction introduces the three articles and how the push the field forwards.