This fascinating new study examines the experiences of women involved in the socialist movement during its formative years in Britain and the active role they played in campaigning for the vote. By giving full attention to this much-neglected group of women, Socialist Women examines and challenges the orthodox views of labour and suffrage history. Torn between competing loyalties of gender, class and politics, socialist women did not have a fixed identity but a number of contested identities. June Hannam and Karen Hunt probe issues that created divisions between these women, as well as giving them the opportunity to act together. In three fascinating case studies they explore:* women's suffrage* women and internationalism* the politics of consumption.Believing above all that being a woman was vital to their politics, these individuals sought to develop a woman-focused theory of socialism and to put this new politics into practice.

Introduction, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 1 Socialist Women, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 2 Biographies and Political Journeys, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 3 Constructing the Woman Question, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 4 Mixed-Sex Politics, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 5 Socialist Women and the Suffrage, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 6 Socialist Women and a Politics of Consumption, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 7 Socialist Women and Internationalism, June Hannam, Karen Hunt; Chapter 102 Conclusion, June Hannam, Karen Hunt;