Consciousness-raising in Clapham; women's liberation as ‘lived experience’ in South London in the 1970s

This article demonstrates the centrality of the small group process, known as consciousness-raising, to the women’s liberation movement in 1970s Britain. It argues that by focussing on women’s liberation campaigns, demands and conferences too much emphasis has been placed on the ‘public’ face of the movement and insufficient emphasis has been given to the process by which women sought to understand their oppression, redefine themselves and create new feminist identities. By examining the impact of women’s liberation on personal life we see how women sought to live out the implications of the slogan ‘the personal is political’. This article examines the process of consciousness-raising in one South London group from 1972-1979.