Business of Women's Words
The Business of Women’s Words: Purpose and Profit in Feminist Publishing explores the dramatic story of the feminist publishing revolution that unfolded during the UK Women’s Liberation Movement [WLM] of the 1970s and 80s.
This three-year research project (2018-2021), funded by the Leverhulme Trust, looks at the contrasting histories and fortunes of Virago Press and Spare Rib. It examines how WLM activists called upon cultural and creative business activities to help promote their aims despite feminists’ general antipathy and sometimes hostility to capitalist methods and ideologies.
The project will unearth activists’ efforts to infuse purpose with profit and to reconcile business and financial imperatives with political, artistic and egalitarian commitments, bringing life to archival treasures at The British Library.
Looking beyond the particular stories of Virago and Spare Rib, the project will bring fresh perspectives to the history of feminism, which has previously focused on identities and campaigns, by considering the ways that feminists’ ethical and socialist economic strategies related to creative and entrepreneurial successes.
The Business of Women’s Words will also explore the business investments and state support behind feminist cultural production and the hidden role of personal and private income, transnational networking, collective ‘crowd sourcing’, unpaid time, labour and care.