Burdens of History: British Feminists, Indian Women, and Imperial Culture, 1865-1915

by Antoinette Burton

In this study of British middle-class feminism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Antoinette Burton explores an important but neglected historical dimension of the relationship between feminism and imperialism. Demonstrating how feminists in the United Kingdom appropriated imperialistic ideology and rhetoric to justify their own right to equality, she reveals a variety of feminisms grounded in notions of moral and racial superiority. According to Burton, Victorian and Edwardian feminists such as Josephine Butler, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, and Mary Carpenter believed that the native women of colonial India constituted a special 'white woman's burden.' Although there were a number of prominent Indian women in Britain as well as in India working toward some of the same goals of equality, British feminists relied on images of an enslaved and primitive 'Oriental womanhood' in need of liberation at the hands of their emancipated British 'sisters.' Burton argues that this unquestioning acceptance of Britain's imperial status and of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority created a set of imperial feminist ideologies, the legacy of which must be recognized and understood by contemporary feminists.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Feminism

318 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1994

About the author

Antoinette Burton is Catherine C. and Bruce A. Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies, Department of History, University of Illinois. Among her books are Dwelling in the Archive: Women Writing House, Home, and History in Late Colonial India and At the Heart of the Empire: Indians and the Colonial Encounter in Late-Victorian Britain.

Also Antoinette M. Burton

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burton examines the connections between imperialism, particularly in India, and the rise of the feminist movement in Britain. Rather than being any sort of chronological coincidence, she argues, the feminist movement was indelibly marked by the political, social, and religious atmosphere of the imperial era. The language and mentality of British imperialism were absorbed by and played an integral role in the feminist movement(s).

Burton focuses on the rhetorical strategies of reformers, analyzing in particular feminists' use of imperialistic and nationalistic language, and the recurrent racial expressions which mark British feminism. Tropes discussed by Burton include the phrase "Indian womanhood," the idea of women as purifying and/or civilizing agents, and the themes of mother- and sister-hood. She also examines the forums in which these rhetorical devices were employed, such as speeches, essays, and periodicals.

Burton often steps aside from the historical context to situate her arguments in terms of ongoing debates in the fields of history and gender studies. She also alludes briefly to the ongoing influences of racial and nationalist ideologies on today's feminist movements.

[Linda Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could and should have been more radical. Yes, we know that British feminism is inherently imperial, that much is clear and evident. But could we please spend more time on the sheer unradicalness of British feminism, and how much the discourses of British feminism explicitly and deliberately prop up the machinery and culture of empire? For a revisionist work on white feminism, this book sure is way nicer than it should be.

[Sam Hawkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

the final book for HIST 419:

so… this book was PRACTICALLY dnf. it felt rather repetitive on so many different fronts and it was also incredibly difficult to follow. the topic was interesting but by god i think i hated this book. i’m so sorry Antoinette, you seem like a queen!

[T.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps an unfairly biased review, since I'm madly in love with Antoinette Burton's work, and she's now my PhD advisor at the University of Illinois, but this book is amazing. It's the counterpoint to Linda Colley's Britons:Forging the Nation, and is more inclusive of race and gender analysis. Burton helps coin the idea of "imperial feminism," the idea that white British women campaign for their own individual rights while working within the vast superstructure of colonial racial ideology. Women use the savage Indian woman as an excuse for their own political ambitions, or to justify their rationale for suffrage.

This book opened my eyes to the complexities of empire and the deep divisions among the nineteenth century colonial landscape. I can't wait to start digging into my doctorate this fall thanks to this book.