Of Comradeship and Sisterhood: A Political History of 'Die Gleichheit', 1891-1917

It is an impression of a (illegal/semi-legal) meeting of German socialist women in 1891 in Berlin. A woman stands at the front of a room in front of a crowd of people sat at tables.

Description

Die Gleichheit was the publication of the highly influential women’s movement of German Social Democracy (SPD), the largest political party in the Kaiserreich (1871–1918).

Over 175,000 women participated in this movement, which was central to the establishment of International Women’s Day.

Despite its significance and rich content, Die Gleichheit has been almost entirely overlooked in scholarship, meaning that this powerful voice of women activists has been lost.

Through a detailed analysis of the journal in its party-political and transnational contexts, Dr Lewis’s project will capture and foreground this voice, and thereby transform our understanding of female political agency in this period.

Videos and podcasts

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Lives of the Left: Clara Zetkin (1857-1933)

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Clara Zetkin and World War I

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Some New Translations of 'Die Gleichheit', the German Marxist Women's Paper

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Clara Zetkin: Letters and Writings

 

Impact

Publications and outputs

Project website

https://drbenlewis.com/