The Library
From suffragette to citizen : female experience of parliamentary spaces in long-nineteenth century Britain
Tools
Galvin, Amy (2020) From suffragette to citizen : female experience of parliamentary spaces in long-nineteenth century Britain. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
|
PDF
WRAP_Theses_Galvin_2020.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (3359Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3519970~S15
Abstract
This thesis examines women’s experiences of parliamentary spaces in long-nineteenth century Britain. It investigates how, throughout the century, women inhabited a variety of spaces with increasing confidence and ingenuity. It argues that, as a direct influence of women’s interaction with these spaces, a distinct female political identity emerged within Parliament that shaped how some women interacted with the political sphere. Parliament was both a powerful political symbol and a significant political site; women’s experiences, interventions, and resistance there form an essential part of the narrative of women and politics in Britain that has, until now, gone largely untold. There is a significant body of scholarship on the women’s suffrage movement and female campaigning, but little has been done to explore women’s interactions with the physical space of Parliament itself. Inherently patriarchal, it was not a building that was ready to countenance the idea of a politicised and enfranchised woman. Furthermore, beyond the building itself, its language, manners, and practices were also largely inaccessible to potential female inhabitants. This thesis provides an insight into how women were able to transition from female voters outside of Parliament to enfranchised citizens within it.
Examining the rich resources of the Parliamentary Archives and the Parliamentary Works of Art Collection uncovered a clear narrative of female political engagement and activity throughout the long-nineteenth century. This involvement developed and became more overtly politicised as the century progressed. In order to interpret the influence of parliamentary space in a new and more appropriate way, the thesis employs lenses from feminist geography in order to reveal female narratives of spaces that have traditionally been historicised as masculine. This approach posits a new understanding of women’s relationship with Parliament and offers an insight into how it influenced their political position in long-nineteenth century Britain.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) |
||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Women -- Political activity -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century, Suffrage -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century, Women -- Great Britain -- Social conditions -- 19th century, Women's rights -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century, Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 19th century, Great Britain. Parliament -- History -- 19th century | ||||
Official Date: | September 2020 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of History | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Richardson, Sarah ; Schwartz, Laura | ||||
Sponsors: | Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) | ||||
Extent: | vi, 214 leaves : illustrations | ||||
Language: | eng |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |