This volume examines how the British Conservative Party has appealed to women, the roles that women have played in the party, and the tense relationship between women’s activism on the Right and feminism. Covering the period since the early 20th century, the contributions each question assumptions about the reactionary response of the British Right, Margaret Thatcher’s party, to women’s issues and to their political aspirations. How have women been mobilized by the Conservative Party? What kind of party appeals has the British Conservative Party designed to attract women as party workers and as voters? Developing successful strategies to attract women voters since 1918, and appealing to certain notional women’s issues, and having produced the only two women Prime Minters of the UK, the Conservative Party has its own special relationship with women in the modern period. The shifting status of women and opportunities for women in politics in modern Britain has been garnering more scholarly attention recently, and the centenary of women’s partial suffrage in 2018 and Astor 100 in 2019 has done much to excite wider attention and public interest in these debates. However, the role of Conservative women has too often been seen as problematic, especially because of general assumption that feminism is only allied to leftist movements and political positions. This volume explores these themes through a range of case studies, covering the period from the early 20th to the 21st century. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Women’s History Review.

This book examines the connection between notions of gender, diplomacy, society and peacemaking in the period c. 1880 to the mid- to late-twentieth century. The chapters in this volume place gender history at the interface with international history and international relations. They explore a wide variety of themes and issues within the British and European context, especially notions of gender identity, the politics and culture of women's suffrage in the early part of the twentieth century and the role gender played in the formulation and execution of British foreign policy. The book also breaks new ground by attempting to gender diplomacy. Further, it revisits the popular view that women were connected with the peace movements that grew up after the First World War because the notion of peace was associated with stereotypical female traits, such as the rejection of violence and the nurturing rather than destruction of humankind. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Diplomacy and Statecraft.

This volume examines how the British Conservative Party has appealed to women, the roles that women have played in the party, and the tense relationship between women’s activism on the Right and feminism. Covering the period since the early 20th century, the contributions each question assumptions about the reactionary response of the British Right, Margaret Thatcher’s party, to women’s issues and to their political aspirations. How have women been mobilized by the Conservative Party? What kind of party appeals has the British Conservative Party designed to attract women as party workers and as voters? Developing successful strategies to attract women voters since 1918, and appealing to certain notional women’s issues, and having produced the only two women Prime Minters of the UK, the Conservative Party has its own special relationship with women in the modern period. The shifting status of women and opportunities for women in politics in modern Britain has been garnering more scholarly attention recently, and the centenary of women’s partial suffrage in 2018 and Astor 100 in 2019 has done much to excite wider attention and public interest in these debates. However, the role of Conservative women has too often been seen as problematic, especially because of general assumption that feminism is only allied to leftist movements and political positions. This volume explores these themes through a range of case studies, covering the period from the early 20th to the 21st century. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Women’s History Review.

British women were deeply invested in foreign policy between the wars. This study casts new light on the turn to international affairs in feminist politics, the gendered representation and experience of the Munich Crisis, and the profound impression made by female public opinion on PM Neville Chamberlain in his negotiations with the dictators.

British women were deeply invested in foreign policy between the wars. This study casts new light on the turn to international affairs in feminist politics, the gendered representation and experience of the Munich Crisis, and the profound impression made by female public opinion on PM Neville Chamberlain in his negotiations with the dictators.

This collection explores the aftermath of the Representation of the People Act (1918), which gave some (but not all) British women the vote. Leading experts explore the paths taken by former-suffragists as well as their anti-suffragist adversaries, the practices of suffrage commemoration, and the changing priorities and formations of British feminism in this crucial era. In considering how generational conflict informed the contested legacy of suffragism, these essays examine the impact of universal suffrage on the main political parties. Were the hopes and ambitions invested in women's and universal enfranchisement realized or dashed? How did those concerned evaluate the outcome as the years wore on? And why did the attainment of full adult male suffrage in 1918 became overshadowed by the seemingly more momentous achievement of women's suffrage?

This collection explores the aftermath of the Representation of the People Act, which gave some British women the vote. Experts examine the paths taken by both former-suffragists as well as their anti-suffragist adversaries, the practices of suffrage commemoration, and the changing priorities and formations of British feminism in this era.

How far did women support Oswald Mosley's Black Shirts? This important reference work fills a significant gap in the historiography of British fascism, which has generally overlooked the contribution of the women's movement to Britain's fascist experience. Looking at female fascist activism and the influence of feminist ideology on the fascist agenda, Julie V. Gottlieb shows the significant impact of feminist thought in this area. In spite of its mainstream vocal opposition to fascism, parts of the women's movement as Gottlieb demonstrates, had an implicit connection with the British Union of Fascists.

The British Fascisti, the first fascism movement in Britain, was founded by a woman in 1923. During the 1930s, 25 per cent of Sir Oswald Mosley's supporters were women, and his movement was 'largely built up by the fanaticism of women.' What was it about the British form of Fascism that accounted for this conspicuous female support? Gottlieb addresses these questions in the definitive work on women in fascism. This book continues to fill a significant gap in the historiography of British fascism, which has generally overlooked the contribution of women on the one hand, and the importance of sexual politics and women's issues on the other. Gottlieb's extensive research makes use of government documents, a large range of contemporary pamphlets, newspapers and speeches, as well as original interviews with those personally involved in the movement. This new edition includes a preface analysing the current affairs of the last 20 years, reframing the book according to contemporary context. Here, Gottlieb looks at the resurgence of populism, the rise of women as leaders of far-right parties across Europe and North America, and the normalisation of fascism in fiction and political discourse.