The Newer Eve: Women, Feminists and the Labour Party

Feminist theory is interwoven with women's voices in this study of three consecutive Twentieth-century women's organisations, separate from but affiliated to the Labour Party, starting with the Women's Labour League (1906-1918) and concluding in 1993. The Newer Eve looks at how the women's leaders tried to balance a socialist feminist program with the Party's national programs and the mostly middle-class feminist movements. As these organisations represented women workers, consumers and politicians, so the totality of women's involvement in the Labour movement is considered. Women's labour market position and how this affected their participation in the Labour movement is discussed, alongside the affect of war on political organisation. With a subject matter of continuing importance and relevance, it provides new insights into the Labour Party, engaging with its development from its first secretary and Labour's first Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald to Tony Blair's New Labour. Insisting that Labour Party differences be recognised, both over time and in locality, Collette conclues by using post-modern thought to evaluate the future possibility of a Labour/feminist axis.