Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

Events

Community Based Struggles and the Role of Women

During the period between 1910 and 1914 the mobilisation and politicisation of working class women in the Clydeside region gathered pace based around issues such as suffrage and housing.

The inadequacy of housing conditions allied to exploitative housing laws encouraged this mobilisation of women, and a growing number of working class women became active in local tenants defence associations. These housing laws allowed landlords to summarily evict tenants in arrears of rent and allowed landlords to confiscate the possessions of tenants in lieu of arrears.

Many women were going beyond mere defence of local interests and were contributing to the wider political debate on the need for a radical restructuring of working class housing at the municipal level.

A number of important Glasgow-based women's groups and associations were formed to mobilise women on the twin issues of housing and suffrage. These included the Glasgow Women's Housing Association, Women's Labour League, Women's Freedom League and the Women's Social and Political Union. Prominent in these groups were women like Helen Crawfurd, Agnes Dollan and Mary Barbour, all of whom would go on to greater prominence within the wider British and Scottish labour movements.