The Feminist Library recently celebrated its 35th birthday with an all out party and benefit at the Round Chapel in Hackney. The enormous success of the event marked an important moment in the library’s history and regeneration. However, someone who…
Tag: feminism
Women’s History Month at the Women’s Library
Recently The Women’s Library hosted the annual Fawcett Lecture, presented by Sandi Toksvig. Following Sandi’s enlightening and suitably humorous take on the topic of Post-Feminism, the floor was opened to questions from the audience. One of the last of these…
Women’s History Month: International Women’s Day!
Today, we celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day (IWD), so it seems appropriate to provide some historical context. International Women’s Day has its origins amongst the socialist and communist parties campaigning for rights for the working-class at the beginning…
Women’s History Month: ‘Red Ellen’, Ellen Wilkinson, 1891 – 1947
Ellen Wilkinson was a key radical figure in British socialism and feminism of the early and mid-20th century, a woman of idealism, pragmatism, energy and passion who was involved in many of the major struggles of the period. Born in…
Recognising local faces in global spaces: lessons we can learn from our Indian grandmothers, part two
Part one of this article can be found here. Participating in international women’s forums during the interwar years often made this generation aware of their marginalisation as Indian women and colonial subjects within these forums. This was brought home to…
Recognising local faces in global spaces: lessons we can learn from our Indian grandmothers, part 1.
In our evermore interconnected world transnational networks are becoming increasingly important in enabling workers, activists and academics to overcome the limitations imposed by national boundaries. Look at the success of a global research and policy network such as WIEGO (Women…
Women’s Work, Yesterday and Today, part three.
This is the final part of my interview with the University of Warwick’s knowledge portal, promoting the WHN conference, ‘Performing the self: women’s lives in historical perspective’. You can also read parts one and two. What do you think are the key factors…
Before there was Internet 3: Pornography
Pornography, now easily accessible through the internet but available on top-shelves or on backstreets for several centuries, continues to hold an ambiguous social role in the current world. For some, pornography is for harmless sexual release, to help spice up…
‘Bella the Welder’
Bella Keyzer, born in 1922, was a jute weaver, a munitions worker, an assembly line worker, but most famously a welder. I came across an oral history interview with her recorded in 1985 as part of the Dundee Oral History…