London Socialist Historians Seminar Mon 31st Jan 5.30pm.
John Newsinger on Ethel Mannin, the Forgotten Feminist & Revolutionary
Monday 31st January 5.30pm John Newsinger The Forgotten Feminist: Ethel Mannin, Women and the Revolution
Free on Zoom
Link to a recording of the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/j0IFgHGqxQ_GrxTK7t4RrTAcH9WgsURATYC8l6gag3mWE6x8aoN7ubFUecF0hPEb.XqHX-DFo8WeBQWU7 (Passcode: 4uwKGY5!)
In 1938 Ethel Mannin published her Women and the Revolution, a powerful call for Socialist Revolution as the only way to achieve Women’s Liberation. It is a tremendous book and it’s neglect by the Left is criminal. At the time she was a successful popular novelist and had been active in the ILP for a number of years. She had thrown herself into solidarity work in support of the POUM and the CNT-FAI in Spain. Mannin was ferociously anti-Stalinist and opposed to the politics of the Popular Front, moving in an anarchist direction. Indeed, Women and the Revolution is actually dedicated to Emma Goldman. She was a determined pacifist during WW2, falling out with George Orwell over the question. After the War she was to become a determined supporter of the Palestinian cause, writing one of the first novels looking at the Nakba from the Palestinian point of view. Today she is almost completely forgotten. The time to rescue her from History’s neglect is long overdue.
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