This book tells the untold story of the Married Women’s Association. Unlike more conventional histories of family law, which focus on legal actors, it highlights the little-known yet indispensable work of a dedicated group of life-long activists.
Formed in 1938, the Married Women’s Association took reform of family property law as its chief focus. The name is deceptively innocuous, suggesting tea parties and charity fundraisers, but in fact the MWA was often involved in dramatic confrontations with politicians, civil servants, and Law Commissioners. The Association boasted powerful public figures, including MP Edith Summerskill, authors Vera Brittain and Dora Russell, and barrister Helena Normanton. They campaigned on matters that are still being debated in family law today.
Quiet Revolutionaries sheds new light upon legal reform then and now by challenging longstanding assumptions, showing that piecemeal legislation can be an effective stepping stone to comprehensive reform and highlighting how unsuccessful bills, though often now forgotten, can still be important triggers for change.
Drawing upon interviews with members’ friends and family, and thousands of archival documents, the book is compulsory reading for lawyers, legal historians, and anyone who wishes to explore histories of law reform from the ground up.
Winner of the SLSA Socio-Legal Theory and History Book Prize 2023.
To listen to podcast episodes about the Married Women’s Association, featuring interviews and archival research, visit quietrevolutionaries.podbean.com.
By:
Sharon Thompson
Imprint: Hart Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781509929412
ISBN 10: 150992941X
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 08 September 2022
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword by Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond Acknowledgments Timeline Archive References List of Abbreviations Prologue: After the Vote 1. Quiet Revolutionaries 2. Housewives: ‘That Vast Army of the Great Unpaid’ Interlude: Juanita Frances 3. A Composite Portrait 4. A New Marriage Law 5. Mrs Blackwell Interlude: A Note About Lord Denning 6. The Split Interlude: Reform Movements Are Like Builders 7. One Step at a Time 8. Resistance as a Reform Strategy Interlude: Poor Reggie 9. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back 10. A Subterranean Influence Afterword Bibliography Index
Sharon Thompson is Reader in Law at Cardiff University, UK.
Reviews for Quiet Revolutionaries: The Married Women's Association and Family Law
The influence and importance of the Married Women's Association and its visionary leading lights ... ought to be much better known, not only among family lawyers but also among everyone who is interested in the movement for women's equality. Sharon Thompson has enriched our knowledge and understanding by shining a light upon these quiet revolutionaries. * Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, former President of the Supreme Court of the UK [from the foreword] * Quiet Revolutionaries brilliantly illustrates the value of taking a feminist approach to legal history. Meticulously researched and engaging, it shines a light on an overlooked but vitally important campaign for substantive equality within marriage and on the challenges of reforming the law. * Rebecca Probert, Professor of Law, University of Exeter, UK *
