Burdens of History

British Feminists, Indian Women, and Imperial Culture, 1865-1915

Nonfiction, History, British
Cover of the book Burdens of History by Antoinette Burton, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Antoinette Burton ISBN: 9780807860656
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: November 9, 2000
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Antoinette Burton
ISBN: 9780807860656
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: November 9, 2000
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In this study of British middle-class feminism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Antoinette Burton explores an important but neglected historical dimension of the relationship between feminism and imperialism. Demonstrating how feminists in the United Kingdom appropriated imperialistic ideology and rhetoric to justify their own right to equality, she reveals a variety of feminisms grounded in notions of moral and racial superiority. According to Burton, Victorian and Edwardian feminists such as Josephine Butler, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, and Mary Carpenter believed that the native women of colonial India constituted a special 'white woman's burden.' Although there were a number of prominent Indian women in Britain as well as in India working toward some of the same goals of equality, British feminists relied on images of an enslaved and primitive 'Oriental womanhood' in need of liberation at the hands of their emancipated British 'sisters.' Burton argues that this unquestioning acceptance of Britain's imperial status and of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority created a set of imperial feminist ideologies, the legacy of which must be recognized and understood by contemporary feminists.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this study of British middle-class feminism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Antoinette Burton explores an important but neglected historical dimension of the relationship between feminism and imperialism. Demonstrating how feminists in the United Kingdom appropriated imperialistic ideology and rhetoric to justify their own right to equality, she reveals a variety of feminisms grounded in notions of moral and racial superiority. According to Burton, Victorian and Edwardian feminists such as Josephine Butler, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, and Mary Carpenter believed that the native women of colonial India constituted a special 'white woman's burden.' Although there were a number of prominent Indian women in Britain as well as in India working toward some of the same goals of equality, British feminists relied on images of an enslaved and primitive 'Oriental womanhood' in need of liberation at the hands of their emancipated British 'sisters.' Burton argues that this unquestioning acceptance of Britain's imperial status and of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority created a set of imperial feminist ideologies, the legacy of which must be recognized and understood by contemporary feminists.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Isma'ili Modern by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Gendered Spaces by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Struggle for Mastery by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book King Football by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book The Rise of the Arab American Left by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Mary Breckinridge by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book The Workboats of Core Sound by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Telling Lies in Modern American Autobiography by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Music and the Making of a New South by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Liberia, South Carolina by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Black Soldiers in Blue by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Songs of a Friend by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book A Union Indivisible by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Laws Harsh As Tigers by Antoinette Burton
Cover of the book Hermogenes' On Types of Style by Antoinette Burton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy