PhD Defence Sophie van den Elzen: How the early feminist movement strategically used the history of slavery

On 19 March Sophie van den Elzen MA (Modern and Contemporary Literature) will defend her PhD dissertation on Antislavery in the Transnational Movement for Women's Rights, in which she shows how the early feminist movement strategically engaged with the history of slavery.

The early feminist movement

Using archives and digital humanities techniques, Van den Elzen researched the rise of the women's movement in the nineteenth century. She describes how a feminist discourse was formed in novels, magazines, newspapers, letters and historiography from all over the world. One thing was specifically striking: the many references to the history of slavery.

The early women's movement strategically used the history of slavery to draw attention to its own cause.

Feminism and the history of slavery

Van den Elzen's research shows how early thought-leaders of the feminist movement used the history of slavery to draw comparisons with the enslaved and highlight the role of white women in the antislavery movement. Over the course of the century, they also increasingly emphasised that the political emancipation of white women deserved priority and was at odds with that of black men and women.

A transnational network

The cultural memory of the history of slavery in the United States and the United Kingdom was adopted by French, German and Dutch feminists. Thus, through the use of references to slavery and abolition, a transnational, but exclusive women's movement emerged. They stayed connected through a network of ideas spread through letters, journals, and the travels of women activists.