Sheila Rowbotham (born 27 February 1943) is a British socialist feminist theorist and historian.

Early life

Rowbotham was born on 27 February 1943 in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

(in present-day

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

), the daughter of a salesman for an engineering company and an office clerk. From an early age, she was deeply interested in history. She has written that traditional

political history Political history is the narrative and survey of political events, ideas, movements, organs of government, voters, parties and leaders. It is closely related to other fields of history, including diplomatic history, constitutional history, social ...

"left her cold", but she credited Olga Wilkinson, one of her teachers, with encouraging her interest in

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

by showing that history "belonged to the present, not to the history textbooks". Rowbotham attended St Hilda's College at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and then the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. She began her working life as a teacher in

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is re ...

s and institutes of higher or

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ral ...

. While attending St Hilda's College, Rowbotham found the syllabus with its heavy focus on political history to be of no interest to her. She has described herself at the time she started her studies at St Hilda's as "not at all left-wing" and a "mystical beatnik hippie-type", although she soon started to make contact with leftists, including fellow Oxford student Gareth Stedman Jones, who became a professional historian. Rowbotham also met

E. P. Thompson Edward Palmer Thompson (3 February 1924 – 28 August 1993) was an English historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He is best known today for his historical work on the radical movements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in ...

and

Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and was one of the few women news commentators on radio ...

at this time, after a tutor recommended that she should visit them due to their interest in

Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, ...

and the history of working-class movements: Rowbotham read the

proofs Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...

of E. P. Thompson's ''

The Making of the English Working Class ''The Making of the English Working Class'' is a work of English social history written by E. P. Thompson, a New Left historian. It was first published in 1963 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and republished in revised form in 1968 by Pelican, after ...

'', which she has described as "like no other history book I’d read". Through her involvement in the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuc ...

and various socialist circles, among them the Labour Party's youth wing, the Young Socialists, Rowbotham was introduced to

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's ideas. Soon disenchanted with the direction of party politics, she immersed herself in a variety of left-wing campaigns, including writing for the radical political newspaper '' Black Dwarf'', whose editorial board she also joined.

Outlook on feminism

In the 1960s, Rowbotham together with

Sally Alexander Sally A. Alexander (born 1943) is an English historian and feminist activist. Career When she was sixteen, Alexander trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as an actress. She completed a diploma in history at Ruskin College, Oxford from ...

and Anna Davin and was one of the founders and leaders of the

History Workshop The ''History Workshop Journal'' is a British academic history journal published by Oxford University Press. ''History Workshop'' was founded in 1976 by Raphael Samuel and others involved in the History Workshop movement. Originally sub-titled " ...

movement associated with

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) ...

. The History Workshop movement sought to write a "history from below" by focusing on the experiences of ordinary people by marrying the Marxist tradition of history-writing to the labour movement tradition. Towards the end of the 1960s Rowbotham became involved in the growing

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

(also known as

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. ...

); in 1969, she published her pamphlet ''Women's Liberation and the New Politics'', which argued that Socialist theory needed to consider the oppression of women in cultural as well as economic terms. She was heavily involved in the conference ''Beyond the Fragments'' (eventually a book), which attempted to draw together

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

and socialist feminist currents in Britain. She was also one of the organisers of the

National Women's Liberation Conference The National Women's Liberation Conference (or National Women's Liberation Movement Conference) was a United Kingdom initiative organised to bring together activists in the Women's Liberation Movement with the aim of developing a shared political ...

in 1970, which set out demands in relation to issues such as equal pay, education and free contraception. Between 1983 and 1986, Rowbotham served as the editor of ''Jobs for Change'', the newspaper of the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(GLC). At this time she was also involved in the GLC's Popular Planning Unit alongside

Hilary Wainwright Hilary Wainwright (born 1949) is a British sociologist, political activist and socialist feminist, best known for being a co-editor of '' Red Pepper'' magazine. Early life and education Wainwright's father was the Liberal MP Richard Wainw ...

, which was involved in developing democratic approaches to economic planning. Since then, Rowbotham has produced numerous studies and articles expanding upon her theory, which argues that as women's oppression is a result of both economic and cultural forces then a dualist perspective ( socialist feminism) that examines both the public and private sphere is required to work towards liberation. Rowbotham was especially influenced by Marxist social history as practised by

and

. Combining a Marxist analysis with feminism, Rowbotham contends that capitalism not only systematically oppresses the working class, but also particularly oppresses women. In her view, women are doubly oppressed as they are forced to sell their labour to survive, but also forced to use their labour to support their husbands and children. Rowbotham is critical of traditional

Marxist history Marxist historiography, or historical materialist historiography, is an influential school of historiography. The chief tenets of Marxist historiography include the centrality of social class, social relations of production in class-divided soc ...

for what she sees as the neglect of such issues as family history, the role of housewives in supporting the economy, sexuality, and maternity. Rowbothbam argued that the traditional Marxist history by focusing on a class conflict missed sexual oppression. Likewise, she has criticized those Marxists who contend that sexism did not exist in Communist societies with the claim that sexism was caused by capitalism as doing a disservice to history. Rowbotham has argued that those Marxist historians who see women's history as a "distraction" from the main theme of the class struggle are presenting a misleading version of history. In her major early books ''Women, Resistance and Revolution'' (1972) and ''Hidden from History'' (1973), Rowbotham put her ideas into practice by examining the experience of women in radical and revolutionary movements in Cuba, Algeria, Vietnam, China, Russia, France and Britain from the 17th century to the 20th centuries. In her opinion, working within the established order has never brought women any advances, and only through revolutionary socialist movements have women made any social gains. Rowbotham has argued that though male revolutionaries are willing to accept women as partners as long as the revolution lasts, once the revolution is over, women are expected to return to their traditional roles. As an example of her thesis in ''Women, Resistance and Revolution'', she examined the role of Russian women in the late Imperial, Provisional government, and early Soviet periods. Rowbotham wrote that women played a key role in toppling Emperor Nicholas II and with him the

House of Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastacia of Russia, Anastasi ...

, which had reigned since 1612, noting that the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

began with women's demonstrations on International Women's Day. Rowbotham has praised

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

and the other Bolshevik leaders in ''Women, Resistance and Revolution'' for legalising abortion, divorce, and contraception plus founding the '' Zhenotdel'' (women's department) together with socialised restaurants, health care and laundries. Rowbothham argued that the changes experienced by Russian women from the Imperial era, where superstition, poverty, illiteracy, and the patriarchal view as women as property were the norm to the early Soviet era were an improvement. She has criticised Soviet policies starting with the

First five-year plan The first five-year plan (russian: I пятилетний план, ) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a list of economic goals, created by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, based on his policy of socialism in ...

of 1928–33 for not only expecting women to work full-time, but also to take on the burdens of housework and child-raising while at the same time banning abortion and birth control. Rowbotham argued that the Stalinist era marked the beginning of a retrogression for Soviet women, as

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

to a certain extent brought about a return to traditional Russian values, most notably via a lavish personality cult that incorporated Tsarist imagery and iconography. Rowbotham has contended that to achieve women's liberation requires a "revolution within the revolution" or freedom from the "colony within the colony" as sexism was and is just entrenched in left-wing men as it is on the right. In ''Women, Resistance and Revolution'', she wrote that though women were allowed to participate in revolutionary events such as the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

and the Chinese civil war, once a new order was established whatever under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

, a retrogression to the previous patriarchal values took place. Writing about the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, which was then on-going, Rowbotham stated that Vietnamese women involved serving in the Viet Cong especially felt committed to the cause because of the dangers of rape from American GIs, from "massacres which none are spared" and the dangers of birth defects caused by the spraying of

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. It ...

. Rowbotham was one of the first to draw attention in the West to the fact that since spraying of the South Vietnamese countryside with Agent Orange herbicide stated in 1961, "an abnormally high percentage of miscarriages, stillbirths, and deformed children" had been born. She maintains that capitalism and sexism/patriarchy are so closely linked that the only way to destroy both is a radical change in the "cultural conditioning of men and women, upbringing of children, shape of the places we live in, legal structure of society, sexuality and the very nature of work". Rowbotham's books were, and are still well received in feminist circles, and their accessibility has allowed them to remain popular. In ''Hidden from History'', she examined British women's history from the 17th century to 1930 from a Marxist viewpoint. For Rowbotham, the history of British women could best be defined through class oppression, the Industrial Revolution, and sexism. In her 1973 book ''Women's Consciousness, Men's World'', Rowbotham maintained that the domestic household work done by women was a part of commodity production as it allowed the production and reproduction of men's labour, thereby challenging a key tenet of traditional Marxist history. However, she claimed that the human family was not just an instrument for disciplining and subjecting women to capitalism, but was a place where potentially humans could take refuge from what Rowbotham sees as the commodification of human relationships under capitalism. In Rowbotham's view, raising children, sexuality, and the need for human relationships means that the family can rarely be reduced down to a service commodity. Likewise, she argues for a Marxist history that accords equal importance to the role of both sexes in the history of revolutions, unions, political parties and protest movements. In ''Women's Consciousness, Men's World'', Rowbotham presented her analysis of contemporary social conditions in Britain from a Marxist-feminist perspective. She argues that origins of sexism predate capitalism, and that the institution of marriage closely resembles

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

. She contends that as in feudalism serfs were obliged to serve their masters, wives are likewise contracted to serve their husbands. The historian Susan Cook praised Rowbotham for tracing a "female consciousness" in Britain from the 17th century onward through "complex webs" of economic and political change. The clarity of Rowbotham's writing together with her picture of what Cook called the "potential contradictory nature of women's desires and needs" ensured that ''Women's Consciousness, Men's World'' reached a broad audience. In her 1977 book ''Dutiful Daughters'', co-written with Jean McCrindle, Rowbotham interviewed fourteen women of lower-middle-class and working-class origin. Though Rowbotham notes that the life stories of women interviewed for ''Dutiful Daughters'' were not intended to be representative of all British women, she argues that these snap-shots of different lives, if combined with enough other oral histories, can provide an understanding of the experience of ordinary women. As part of relating the personal to the political, Rowbotham has examined the sexual and political beliefs of such late 19th- to early 20th-century radicals as the gay rights activist Edward Carpenter, who saw socialism as way for humanity's spiritual rebirth, and the feminist

Stella Browne Stella Browne (9 May 1880 – 8 May 1955) was a Canadian-born British feminist, socialist, sex radical, and birth control campaigner. She was one of the primary women in the fight for women's right to control and make decisions regarding their s ...

who fought for the legalisation of birth control and argued for the importance of sexual pleasure for women. Rowbotham argued that the political beliefs of Carpenter and Browne were closely tied to their personal lives. Besides her work as a historian, Rowbotham has been active in left-wing causes. In her book ''Beyond the Fragments'', co-written with

and Lynne Segal, Rowbotham called for the various fractions of the British left to unite, and work for a socialist Britain through grassroots activism. She has great faith in activist social movements working from the bottom up to change society, and feels that historians have a duty to contribute to social change by writing books that expose what she sees as the evils of society. Placing Rowbotham as one (of three women) in her 2000 collection of ''Fifty Key Thinkers on History,'' Hughes-Warrington describes Rowbotham as a researcher who "draws upon a wide variety of sources including songs, novels, governmental and organisational records, pamphlets, other historical works and her own experiences" Hughes-Warrington noting her audience of ordinary men and women (and their history), considered it unsurprising that "she rejects much of the current literature of gender studies, Marxist theory and historiography. For her, the importation of French structuralist and post-structuralist perspectives have not only made academic writing inaccessible to the public, but have also discouraged academics from taking an interest in the developing world and in the life and work of people with different heritages from their own." Referring to Rowbotham's "The Trouble with Patriarchy", Hughes-Warrington concurs with the need to have a clear idea as to what

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...

is in order to struggle against it and quotes Rowbotham's definition in full. She finds fault with those feminists who deny men a role in the battle against sexism. In her opinion, women and men should stand equally against both capitalism and sexism to achieve radical social reorganisation. In a 2011 interview, Rowbotham criticised

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

, claiming that Leninism "narrow the struggle of women's emancipation", and sees "

libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...

", "

ethical socialism Ethical socialism is a political philosophy that appeals to socialism on ethical and moral grounds as opposed to consumeristic, economic, and egoistic grounds. It emphasizes the need for a morally conscious economy based upon the principle ...

" and

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

as providing more vital understanding of women's needs.

Recent professional life

In 2004, Rowbotham was elected as a fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. She was Professor of Gender and Labour History, Sociology at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

, England, until her involuntary retirement in 2008. Rowbotham's involuntary retirement from the University of Manchester caused protest from students. The Facebook group Save Sheila Rowbotham was established to campaign for her continuation as a Lecturer. The same year she published the first-ever biography of Edward Carpenter, entitled ''Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love'' and did continue to teach within the Sociology department at Manchester. In Autumn 2008, her request to stay on after the age of 65 to a third of her job was refused. However, after protests from students, academics and others internationally the university offered Rowbotham a third of research professorship. She is currently a Simon Professor. Rowbotham's 2009 biography of Edward Carpenter was shortlisted for the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

. Rowbotham was the Eccles Centre Writer in Residence at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

for 2012 where her research enabled completion of ''Rebel Crossings.'' She was portrayed by the actor Jo Herbert in the British film '' Misbehaviour'' (2020) about the 1970 Miss World protests.

Bibliography

*''Women's Liberation and the New Politics'' (Spokesman, 1969). *''Women, Resistance and Revolution'' (Allen Lane, 1973;

Verso ' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. Etymology The terms are shortened from Latin ...

, 2014) *''Woman's Consciousness, Man's World'' (Pelican, 1973; Verso, 2015) *''Hidden from History: 300 years of Women's Oppression and the Fight Against It'' (

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Originally, it was the publishing arm of the International Socialists (today known as the Socialist Workers Party), until it changed hands and was replaced ...

, 1973, 1992). *''A New World for Women: Stella Browne, Socialist Feminist'' (Pluto Press, 1977). *''Dutiful Daughters: Women Talk About Their Lives'', with Jean McCrindle (

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...

, 1977). *''Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism'', with Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright (Merlin Press, 1979, 2012) *''Dreams and Dilemmas: Collected Writings'' (

Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femini ...

, 1983) *''Friends of Alice Wheeldon'' (Pluto Press, 1986) *''Friends of

Alice Wheeldon Alice Ann Wheeldon (27 January 1866 – 21 February 1919) was a British supporter of universal and women's suffrage and anti-war campaigner. She was convicted in 1917, along with her daughter, Winnie, and son-in-law, Alfred Mason, of conspiracy ...

– 2nd Edition, The Anti-War Activist Accused of Plotting to Kill Lloyd George'' (Pluto Press, 2015) *''The Past Is Before Us: Feminism in Action Since the 1960s'' (HarperCollins, 1989). *''A Century of Women: The History of Women in Britain and the United States'', (Viking, 1997) *''Dignity and Daily Bread: New Forms of Economic Organization Among Poor Women in the Third World and the First'', with Swasti Mitter (

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 1993). *''Women in Movement: Feminism and Social Action'' (Routledge, 1993). *''Homeworkers Worldwide'' (Merlin Press, 1993). *''Women Encounter Technology: Changing Patterns of Employment in the Third World'', with Swasti Mitter (Routledge, 1997). *''A Century of Women: The History of Women in Britain and the United States'' (Viking, 1997). *''Threads Through Time: Writings on History and Autobiography'' (Penguin Books, 1999). *''Promise of a Dream: Remembering the Sixties'' (Verso, 2000). *''Looking at Class: Film Television and the Working Class in Britain'', with Huw Benyon (River Oram Press, 2001). *''Women Resist Globalization; Mobilizing for Livelihood and Rights'', with Stephanie Linkogle (Zed Books, 2001). *'' Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love'' (Verso, 2008) pk (Verso, 2009). *''Dreamers of a New Day: Women Who Invented the Twentieth Century'' (Verso, 2010). *''Rebel Crossings: New Women, Free Lovers, and Radicals in Britain and America'' (Verso, 2016). *''Daring to Hope: My Life in the 1970s'' (Verso, 2021).

Notes

References

Footnotes

Works cited

*Alexander, Sally, & B. Taylor, "In Defence of 'Patriarchy'", ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', 1 February 1980. *Caine, B. ''English Feminism 1780–1980'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. * *Copelman, D. "Interview with Sheila Rowbotham", in H. Abelove, B. Blackmar, P. Dimock and J. Schneer (eds), ''Visions of History'', Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981, pp. 49–69. *Degler, C. N. ''Is there a History of Women?'', London: Oxford University Press, 1975. * *Kaye, H. J. ''The British Marxist Historians'', Cambridge: Polity, 1984. *''Radical History Review'', 1995, Vol. 63, pp. 141–65. *Seccombe, W. "Sheila Rowbotham on Labour and the Greater London Council", in ''Canadian Dimensions'', 21:2, 1987, pp. 32–37. *Swindells, J. "Hanging up on Mum or Questions of Everyday Life in the Writing of History", in ''Gender and History'', 2:1, 1990, pp. 68–78. *Vedder-Schultz, N. "Hearts Stave as Well As Bodies: Ulrike Prokop's ''Production and Context of Women's Daily Life''", in ''New German Critique'', Vol. 13, 1978, pp. 5–17. *Winslow, Barbara; Temma Kaplan & Bryan Palmer, "Women's Revolutions: the Work of Sheila Rowbotham: a Twenty-Year Assessment", in ''Radical History Review'', Vol. 63, 1995, pp. 141–65. *Zissner, J. P. ''History and Feminism: a Glass Half Full'', New York: Twayne, 1993.

External links

The Women's Library @ LSE
*

Melissa Benn Melissa Ann Benn (born 1957) is a British journalist and writer. She is the daughter of Tony Benn and Caroline Benn. Biography Benn was born in Hammersmith, London. She has three brothers, including Hilary Benn and Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscoun ...

"Trailblazer of feminism"
''The Guardian'', 22 July 2000. *Phil Shannon

''Green Left Weekly'', Issue 428, 2000.
Excerpts from "Promise of a Dream: Remembering the Sixties"
- ''The Guardian'', 15 July 2000.
Sheila Rowbotham Papers 7SHR
–

Women's Library The Women's Library is England's main library and museum resource on women and the women's movement, concentrating on Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has an institutional history as a coherent collection dating back to the mid-1920s, ...

Archive entry
Research profile
– University of Manchester

A 1989 debate on women's liberation with Lindsey German. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowbotham, Sheila Academics of the University of Manchester Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of London English feminists Women's historians English women writers Feminist studies scholars Feminist historians British Marxist historians Marxist feminists 1943 births Living people Lambda Literary Award winners British women historians Socialist Workers Party (UK) members English feminist writers