Working-Class Women and the Progressive Era Development of Public Administration: The Case of Margaret Bondfield

Abstract

Using a case study of British trade union organizer Margaret Bondfield, this article begins the task of adding a working class perspective to accounts of women’s participation in Progressive era urban reform and expansion of public policy while also showing how international networks of support among trade union women undergirded American reform efforts. The narrative expands the consideration of intersectionality and positionality in analyzing women’s role in developing public administration.