English ethical socialism: women writers, political ideas and the public sphere between the wars

Abstract

The novelists Rebecca West, Winifred Holtby, Margaret Storm Jameson, and Naomi Mitchison developed an interest in politics during the 1930s as a response to the pervasive belief that their society was becoming increasingly uncivil and fragmented. The erosion of social bonds had adverse emotional effects on the members of their communities and prevented the creation of associations that would bring about the socio-political change needed to prevent another war. Politics was a means of establishing workable relationships between the state – felt to be increasingly distant from the lives of the majority of the citizenry; the sum of voluntary associations which constituted civil society; and individuals, demoralised by isolation. It was to the workings of civil society that these four writers turned their attention with a view to examining closely the intricacies of human relationships under adverse conditions. At the same time, they offered alternative models of human interaction that would allow individuals to develop their personalities more fully in a nourishing environment. This article analyses their position by placing their non-fictional work within the context of the political ideas circulating at the time, emphasising the moral implications of their political vocabulary.