Description
Book SynopsisThis book serves as an introduction to the extraordinary diversity of women’s activism. Paula Bartley's original research is supported by a range of writing to provide a powerful impression of the actions taken by groups of women from across the social and political spectrum, making the book invaluable to both students and interested readers. These women set out to make a difference to their locality, their country and sometimes the world. The story of women’s activism embodies stimulating accounts of progress and reversals, of commitment and uncertainty, of competing rights and challenging wrongs. The story of women’s activism is not tidy or well-ordered. It is messy and unorthodox. And full of surprises.
Trade Review“The book offers considerable geographical diversity with Bartley assessing the presence and impact of women’s activism within the home nations, as well as highlighting the different economic contexts across England. … Women’s Activism in Twentieth-Century Britain is a valuable work in its surveying of the century from the perspective of not only those women who were nationally significant to political developments, but also the organisations that worked at grassroots, local levels to change the position of women in society.” (Amy Longmuir, Women's History Review, July 27, 2023)
“Women's Activism is an accessible and engaging read and makes an important contribution to the historiography. It is essential reading for students, academics and general readers interested in modern British women's history.” (Lisa Berry-Waite, Gender & History, June 20, 2023)
“This book will, I am sure, become a core textbook for students, researchers, teachers, and general readers interested in twentieth-century British Women’s History and Politics. This will be facilitated by Women’s Activism in the Twentieth Century having been produced in both paperback and electronic form at a price which is accessible.” (Maggie Andrews, 20th Century British History, February 7, 2023)
“I read Women’s Activism in Twentieth Century Britain as an activist who believes strongly in telling my history – and that of my community – and as a socialist, feminist and trade unionist. It is an ambitious book which sometimes made me feel overwhelmed with the inclusion of so much history. … This is so important-as is this book-as Paula concludes ‘Without new research and these fresh interpretations, there is a real danger that history itself-not just the people in the past-will perish.’” (lipsticksocialist.wordpress.com, May 9, 2022)
Table of Contents1. Introduction: Themes and Debates.2. A New Age: 1900–1914.3. The Home Front: 1914–1918.4. The Not-So-Roaring Twenties: 1918–1929.5. The Hungry Thirties: 1930–1939.6. The Second World War: 1939–1945.7. The Post-War World: 1945–1960.8. The Less-Than-Swinging Sixties: 1960–1970.9. The Selfish Seventies?: 1970–1979.10. Margaret Thatcher’s Age and After: 1979–2000.11. Conclusion: Change and Continuities.
