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“Working women demand peace and food”: Gender and class in the East London Federation of Suffragettes' food politics

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  • Elaine Swan
  • Katerina Psarikidou

Abstract

In this article, we foreground how gender, class and feminism underpin the aims and modes of mobilization of the food politics of a British first wave suffragette organization, the East London Federation of Suffragettes. Our discussion shows how upper and middle‐class suffragettes excluded working‐class women and marginalized their political gendered classed interests, raising questions about feminist cross‐class solidarities today. We focus on three of East London Federation of the Suffragettes quite different modes of mobilization: embodied protests, radical welfare community organizing and food protest writing, all of which foreground class politics. In discussing three quite distinct modes of mobilization, we highlight the rich package of strategies they created and the different classed identities and struggles in these. We show the diversity of gendered and classed social roles around which the women politicked, as workers, mothers, housewives and consumers. The historical focus enables us to “see” the activities and identifications over time to understand and map their range and dynamics. Moreover, suffragette politics have a “longtail” and continue to influence feminist politics and thinking, but the working‐class mobilizing and food politics have been much less recognized and yet offer potential insights for feminist activism, including the cost‐of‐living crisis today.

Suggested Citation

  • Elaine Swan & Katerina Psarikidou, 2024. "“Working women demand peace and food”: Gender and class in the East London Federation of Suffragettes' food politics," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1113-1132, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:3:p:1113-1132
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.13000
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sanela Smolović Jones & Nik Winchester & Caroline Clarke, 2021. "Feminist solidarity building as embodied agonism: An ethnographic account of a protest movement," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 917-934, May.
    2. Laurence Romani & Patrizia Zanoni & Lotte Holck, 2021. "Radicalizing diversity (research): Time to resume talking about class," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 8-23, January.
    3. Kate Grosser & Lauren McCarthy, 2019. "Imagining new feminist futures: How feminist social movements contest the neoliberalization of feminism in an increasingly corporate‐dominated world," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1100-1116, August.
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