Equivocal feminists: the Social Democratic Federation and the woman question, 1884-1911

Abstract

This 1996 book takes a look at the relationship between socialism and feminism in the years before the First World War through a detailed examination of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), Britain's first Marxist party. It reassesses the history of the SDF, exploring for the first time SDF ideas and practice on issues such as marriage and 'free love', women and work, and the suffrage, as well as the attitudes taken to women and their potential as socialists. Dr Hunt shows how the SDF came to officially equivocate on the woman question and how this shaped what it meant to be a socialist woman in the following years. Through this fascinating examination of the links and antagonisms between the feminist and socialist movements, Dr Hunt not only reclaims the history of a forgotten group of socialist women, but also sheds light on the perennial debate about the comparative significance of sex and class in defining political identity