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Abstract
This thesis traces ideas about maternity as they were played out in two spheres: within both the feminist movement and the Labour party. Although a consideration of preceding periods provides a necessary context for this study, the focus of this analysis is situated in the 1970s, during which the emergence of second wave feminism prompted a conscious reappraisal of issues surrounding motherhood. This broad theme forms the backdrop to the specific examples of abortion and child care. These questions provide a comparative look at how the feminist and labour movements translated some of their respective conceptions about motherhood into political strategy and party policy.
This thesis also seeks to examine how the Labour party responded to the challenges of a relatively coherent feminist movement and the ways in which its policies and political characterizations of women were amenable to the demands of feminism. Much feminist history has been preoccupied with the concept of women's 'agency'. In part, this thesis takes up this question by comparing the fates of both the child care and abortion issues in Labour policy as related the political position these matters occupied in the outlook of second wave feminism. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)