Women, workplace protest and political identity in England, 1968–85

This book draws on original research into women’s workplace protest to deliver a new account of working-class women’s political identity and participation in post-war England. In doing so, the book contributes a fresh understanding of the relationship between feminism, workplace activism and trade unionism during the years 1968–85. The study covers a period that has been identified with the ‘zenith’ of trade union militancy. The women’s liberation movement (WLM) also emerged in this period, which produced a shift in public debates about gender roles and relations in the home and the workplace. Industrial disputes involving working-class women have been commonly understood as evidence of women’s growing participation in the labour movement, and as evidence of the influence of second-wave feminism on working-class women’s political consciousness. However, the voices and experiences of female workers who engaged in workplace protest remain largely unexplored. The book addresses this space through detailed analysis of four industrial disputes that were instigated by working-class women. It shows that labour force participation was often experienced or viewed as a claim to political citizenship in late modern England. A combination of oral history and written sources is used to illuminate how everyday experiences of gender and class antagonism shaped working-class women’s political identity and participation. This book draws upon original research into women's workplace protest to deliver a new account of working-class women's political identity and participation in post-war England. Focusing on the voices and experiences of women who fought for equal pay, skill recognition and the right to work between 1968 and 1985, it explores why working-class women engaged in such action when they did, and it analyses the impact of workplace protest on women's political identity. A combination of oral history and written sources are used to illuminate how everyday experiences of gender and class antagonism shaped working-class women's political identity and participation. The book contributes a fresh understanding of the relationship between feminism, workplace activism and trade unionism during the years 1968-1985. This text draws upon original research into women's workplace protest to deliver a new account of working-class women's political identity and participation in post-war England. Focusing on the voices and experiences of women who fought for equal pay, skill recognition, and the right to work between 1968 and 1985, it explores why working-class women engaged in such action when they did, and it analyses the impact of workplace protest on women's political identity Front matter Contents List of tables Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Introduction Contextualising women’s workplace activism in post-war England The Ford Sewing machinists’ strike, 1968, Dagenham The Trico-Folberth equal pay strike, Brentford, 1976 Sexton’s shoe factory occupation and Fakenham Enterprises, Norfolk, 1972–77 The Ford Sewing machinists’ strike, Dagenham, 1984–85 Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Index This book revisits women’s workplace protest from an historical perspective to deliver a new account of working-class women’s political identity in England between 1968 and 1985.