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UCL History's Dr Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite Publishes "Women and the Miners' Strike, 1984-1985"
5 October 2023
Dr Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite and Dr Natalie Thomlinson publish on the miners' strike of 1984-85 in the first national examination of a topic only previously covered by regional or local studies, making use of new interviews with over 100 women.
The miners鈥� strike of 1984-5 was an epic, year-long struggle between the National Union of Mineworkers and the Thatcher government, but though the strikers were almost all men, huge numbers of women were swept up in the strike. It was kept going by the activism of women from the coalfields, who formed a national network of groups that some observers saw as an 'alternative welfare state'. It was also sustained by the less public support given by women to their striking husbands, fathers, and sons in the home, and by the contributions women made to household finances through their own paid labour. This book is the first study of women鈥檚 involvement in the strike in coalfields across England, Wales and Scotland, illuminating struggle and achievement, but also conflict and hardship.聽
Florence also appeared on .
