Feminism and the British Left: Identity Politics Unpacked

Abstract

Abstract This thesis examines the fractured relationship between feminism and the British Left and its role in the emergence of depoliticized identity politics in Britain from the 1970s to the 1980s. Situating the study within Thatcherism and neoliberal transformations, it traces how Socialist Feminist currents within the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) challenged orthodox Marxist frameworks and how the Left’s neglect of these struggles led feminists to create autonomous spaces through identity politics. Drawing on archival research, oral histories, and theoretical perspectives from Socialist Feminism, Black Feminist Thought, and Marxist critiques of neoliberalism, the thesis maps the ideological and strategic tensions shaping feminist and leftist politics. It shows how the British Left’s failure to address feminist and anti-racist struggles, combined with systemic political pressures, facilitated the rise of identity politics as a depoliticized yet emotionally significant mode of belonging. By revisiting these debates, the thesis recovers marginalized voices, re-politicizes questions of identity and class, and explores the radical potential of feminist praxis, arguing for a renewed synthesis of identity-conscious and class-based politics with continued relevance for contemporary leftist thought.