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Originally published in 1987, this book includes contributions from scholars and peace activists in the United States, Britain, Canada, Belgium, and the German Democratic Republic. These papers present, from a number of different perspectives, the experiences of women in relation to peace in North America, Japan and Europe.
The theoretical diversity and historical breadth of the collection provide a balanced and enlightened view of women and peace movements. The papers range from an important theoretical contribution by the American scholar Berenice Carroll to one on the peace movement in Japan after Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Setsuko Thurlow, a Japanese-Canadian and a Hiroshima survivor. The papers are divided into theoretical, historical and practical approaches and the main part of the book is concerned with historical accounts of women's involvement in peace movements. An important issue covered is the contradiction that arises between feminist and pacifist ideals in peace movements. Literary figures such as Vera Brittain and Charlotte Perkins Gilman are also discussed.
This book will have multi-disciplinary appeal to students and academics in women's studies, peace studies, sociology and history. It will also be of interest to activists in the women's and peace movements.
List of contents
Acknowledgements. Notes on Contributors. Introduction Ruth Roach Pierson Part 1: Theoretical Perspectives 1. Feminism and Pacifism: Historical and Theoretical Connections Berenice A. Carroll 2. Women, Peace and History: Notes for an Historical Overview Dorothy Thompson 3. Feminism and Pacifism, or, the Art of Tranquilly Playing Russian Roulette Micheline de Sève Part 2: Historical Case Studies 4. Women’s Participation in European Peace Movements: The Struggle to Prevent World War I Sandi E. Cooper 5. The Participation of Women in the Belgian Peace Movement (1830-1914) Nadine Lubelski-Bernard 6. Social Democratic Women in Germany and the Struggle for Peace Before and During the First World War Ursula Herrmann 7. Feminism and Pacifism: The French Connection Judith Wishnia 8. Feminist Conciousness and the First World War Jo Vellacott 9. Vera Brittain, Flora MacDonald Denison and the Great War: The Failure of Non-Violence Deborah Gorham 10. The Perils of ‘Unbridled Masculinity’: Pacifist Elements in the Feminist and Socialist Thought of Charlotte Perkins Gilman Margaret Hobbs 11. Peace-Making Women: Canada 1919-1939 Veronica Strong-Boag 12. Vera Brittain and the Peace Pledge Union: Women and Peace Yvonne Aleksandra Bennett Part 3: Contemporary Practices 13. Teaching for Peace in the Secondary School Margaret Wells 14. The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Role of Women in the Japanese Peace Movement Setsuko Thurlow. Index.
About the author
Ruth Roach Pierson
Summary
Originally published in 1987, this book includes contributions from scholars and peace activists in the United States, Britain, Canada, Belgium, and the German Democratic Republic. These papers present, from a number of different perspectives, the experiences of women in relation to peace in North America, Japan and Europe.
