A Lost Dimension? The political education of women in the suffragette movement in Edwardian Britain

It is argued that present‐day definitions of education that focus upon educational forms, such as schools, further education, universities and adult education, have little relevance for the educational experiences of the majority of women in the past. To illustrate this point, the article explores the ‘education’ of women in a major political grouping in Edwardian Britain, namely the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) which, as a militant women‐only organisation, became the most famous of all the groupings campaigning for the enfranchisement of women. The WSPU offered its women members the opportunity to invade and enter the male sphere of politics. Thus, in its early years, members learnt a political role through peaceful means of campaigning, such as heckling politicians, carrying petitions to parliament, public speaking and writing to the press. Later, after many years of such protesting, when the government refused to yield on the issue of women's enfranchisement, more militant roles were adopted by a minority of the membership. These ‘guerilla activists’ engaged in activities such as the large‐scale breaking of windows, vandalising art treasures and setting fire to empty houses. For many of these WSPU women, their participation in the feminist movement was the educational experience of a lifetime, that far outshone any more formal schooling that they might have received in schools, adult education or colleges.