A Research On Women's Social And Political Union's Militant Suffrage Movement

Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel in 1903 founded the famous women suffrage organization - the British Women's Social and Political Union(WSPU). The organization's slogan was "Deeds, not Words". During 1905-1914, the WSPU set off an unprecedented movement in order to create pressure on the government and finally acquire the rights to vote in the parliament. From interfering the politicians rallies, organizing processions and demonstrations, smashing windows, arson and bomb explosions to the launch of hunger strike even suicides in front of the royal horse, the moderate form of struggle in the early days escalated into violent actions, and shocked the entire United Kingdom, and even the world. Pankhurst family and this radical women's participation in politics retains in public memory in Europe and the United States until today . The radical movements occupies an important position in the history of women's participation in politics because of its unique nature and historical connotation. Meanwhile many issues come along with this movement with a general sense are still worth our careful consideration and discussion today.The research of the subject focus on the following questions: Firstly, under what circumstance had this suffrage movement taken place? Secondly, what is the procedure and characteristic of the movement? Thirdly, how to evaluate this movement?The Introduction part mainly describes the motivation of the author to start this research work, the status of relevant academic research at home and abroad, as well as the idea of this paper and the basic framework.Chapter I and II are mostly answers to the first question. Chapter one provide a broad historical view of the movement. This part probes into the historical status during the origin of the movement and reveals the the social cultural and historical background of the women's suffrage movement and how the awareness of women's rights was enlightened and developed. On the other side, it provides an introduction to the the coreleader, Emmeline Pankhurst, for better understanding of the origin of themovement. Since the 19 th century, on the contrary to the advancement ofsocial status of and the expansion of social activity scopes, females werestill absent from parliamentary reform process of democratization . Themainstream concept from the Victorian era became an enormous obstaclesto the fighting for women's rights. When women suffragists exhausted allthe constitutional means to fight for the equal political rights and werecaught in dilemma, the radical acts of men's fighting for political rightssince the 19th century provided a model example to them to use actionsto push forward the reform step by step. Second, background analysis ofthe core leader of the WSPU, Emmeline Pankhurst; it also providesunderstanding of the individual role and charisma in this movement.Therefore, through understanding Emmeline Pankhurst's background and herearly political career, it is helpful to us to have a more in-depthunderstanding to the origin and development of the WSPU suffrage movement.Chapter III, IV are answers to the 2nd question. This part objectivelyreveals the historical truth of the movement by screening through a largenumber of first-hand information and the recent historical researchdocumentations. The author divided the suffrage movement during theperiod 1905-1914 into three phases. The first phase wasl905-1907, whereit was the rise of the militant suffrage; Phase II : 1908-1912, the WSPU'saction evolved into violence with restraint. Phase III : 1912-1914, theWSPU's violence reached a peak, where they adopted bomb attack, arson,destruction works of art and public facilities, showing characteristicsof terrorism. Chapter IV focuses on the analysis of the publicity campaignstrategy used in the movement : The movement was represented by thecharacteristics of radical action, but many people ignore this movement' seffective publicity strategy. Actions and rhetoric were actually WSPU'ssuffrage movement's two core parts. Therefore, through studying theinteractive relationship of WSPU and the mass media, we may understand this movement more comprehensively. It is also the latest perspective to look into the issue. Through this new perspective, we are able to have further understanding and reflection on this mass media strategy other than the battle strategy of the WSPU' s suffrage movement.The evaluational analysis is mainly in Chapter V and VI is the evaluation and understanding on the suffrage movement. It naturally provokes us to think of this movement after describing and analyzing the the origin of the movement, the process, the characteristics, the militant strategy and media strategy from various perspective as mentioned above. To question whether it is a rational and non-rational political campaign, what is their strategy's influence over the entire women's suffrage movement and what is the regret left behind. The author made her own judgments and understanding, based on a large number of historical facts. Besides, the public's understanding and judgement toward this movement is different in different historical period. Chapter VI probes into of the public memory over the suffrage movement: In addition to the research on the militant suffrage in1905-1914, this paper also inspected the construction course of public memory on suffragettes in a very long period of post-war history, and how suffragette evolved from mob in the eyes of the government into a popular cultural hero. With the reference to theory of social memory, it is tried to find out the construction and momentum of the public memory on this suffrage movement. It is then unscrambled how people create the legend of this women suffrage movement, and how the suffragettes' sprites were conserved and passed on. The study on the public memory of this movement gives people a more in-depth understanding, makes people aware of this movement is not simply limited to the movement itself, but a dynamic process of change. It prompts us to think about the relationship of memory and history.Finally, the author also gives further reflections on the questions embraced in the this movement, such as women's modern issues, British democratization process and other multiple issues untouched, unsolved and unrealized in the political system. Compared the the women' s suffrage movement in the past, WSPU revealed move aggressive and proactive awarenetss. It can be said that this movement has provided us with a reference system for further reflection.