‘Sylvia Pankhurst, Suffrage, and the Battle for the Census’ with Jill Liddington and Katherine Conne

A joint book event for two titles considering two aspects of Suffragette history.

JOINT BOOK TALK

‘Sylvia Pankhurst, Suffrage, and the Battle for the Census’

with Jill Liddington and Katherine Connelly

Wednesday June 11th, 7pm

Entry £3, redeemable against any purchase

A joint book event for two titles considering two aspects of Suffragette history: Connelly’s books looks in detail at the life of Sylvia Pankhurst, whilst Liddington’s book tells the story of the Suffragette’s controversial campaign to boycott the census.

Jill Liddington’s ‘Vanishing for the Vote: Suffrage, Citizenship and the Battle for the Census’ (Manchester University Press, 2014) recounts what happened on one night, Sunday 2 April, 1911, when the Liberal government demanded every household comply with its census requirements. Suffragette organisations urged women, all still voteless, to boycott this census. Many did, such as Emily Wilding Davison who famously hid in a cupboard within the Houses of Parliament. Yet many did not.

Liddington explores the 'battle for the census' arguments that raged across Edwardian England in spring 1911. Based on a wealth of brand-new documentary evidence, her book investigates why some committed campaigners decided against civil disobedience tactics, instead opting to provide the government with accurate data for its health and welfare reforms.

Katherine Connelly’s biography ‘Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette, Socialist and Scourge of Empire’ (Pluto Press, 2013) examines Pankhurst’s role at the forefront of significant developments in the history of radical politics. She guides us through Pankhurst's construction of a suffragette militancy which put working-class women at the heart of the struggle, her championing of the Bolshevik Revolution and her clandestine attempts to sabotage the actions of the British state, as well as her early identification of the dangers of Fascism.

The book explores the dilemmas, debates and often painful personal consequences faced by Pankhurst which were played out in her art, writings and activism. Connelly argues that far from being an advocate of disparate causes, Pankhurst’s campaigns were united by an essential continuity which hold vital lessons for achieving social change.

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