Infidel feminism by Laura Schwarz
Infidel feminism is the first in-depth study of a distinctive brand of women's rights that emerged out of the Victorian Secularist movement. Anti-religious or secular ideas were fundamental to the development of feminist thought, but have, until now, been almost entirely passed over in the historiography of the Victorian and Edwardian women's movement. In uncovering an important tradition of Freethinking feminism, this book reveals an ongoing radical and free love current connecting Owenite feminism with the more 'respectable' post-1850 women's movement and the 'New Women' of the early twentieth century. Schwartz looks at the lives and work of a number of female activists associated with organised Secularism, whose renunciation of religion encouraged and shaped their support for women's emancipation. These self-proclaimed 'infidel' feminists championed moral autonomy, free speech, and the democratic dissemination of knowledge. Alongside their rejection of god-given notions of sexual difference and a critique of the Christian institution of marriage such Freethinking principles provided powerful intellectual tools with which to challenge dominant and oppressive constructions of womanhood. Their contribution to the wider feminist movement was significant at a time when the issue of women's rights was integral to the creation of modern definitions of 'religion' and 'secularism' and when feminists and anti-feminists, Christians and Freethinkers battled over who had women's best interests at heart. This book will be invaluable to both scholars and students of social and cultural history and feminist thought, and to interdisciplinary studies of religion and secularisation. Its accessible style will also ensure that it appeals to those interested in the history of women's movements more broadly.An illuminating read'
June Purvis, THE, 21st March 2013
"In sum, this book is a fascinating read, and a rigorously written history of a radical women's movement. As such, it merits reading, and inclusion into our studies of feminism and women's movement in Victorian times."
(Sneha Krishnan, Wolfson College, Oxford, LSE Reviews, 20/11/2013)
"Infidel Feminists makes an important, thorough and very compelling contribution to our understanding of the richness and diversity of both religious culture and feminism in the nineteenth and early twentieth century."
(Alison Twells, Sheffield Hallam, Women's History Review, 03/10/2013)
"This important work is long overdue"
(Dr Edward Royle, University of York, Reviews in History, 14/11/2013)
Infidel Feminism establishes with great clarity the significance of this ‘substratum of feminist identity’ to the wider Victorian women’s movement...As such it deserves to gain an appreciative audience amongst both scholars of Victorian feminism and historians of Victorian religion.
...it deserves to gain an appreciative audience amongst both scholars of Victorian feminism and historians of Victorian religion.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780719097287 |
| ISBN 10 | 0719097282 |
| Title | Infidel feminism |
| Author | Laura Schwarz |
| Series | Gender In History |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Manchester University Press |
| Year published | 2015-03-01 |
| Number of pages | 264 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |