Rachel Collett
Equal pay for women and Tories Out!”: The Women’s Movement in Merseyside, c.1968-1990.
Biography
Rachel received a BA in History (2019) and an MSt in History of Art and Visual Culture (2020) from the University of Oxford, both of which were first class. She has also been the recipient of awards such as the Gladstone Prize for Best Undergraduate Thesis in Modern British History, the Caroline Kellett FHS Prize, and Wadham College Scholarships.
Rachel has previously undertaken curatorial work in museums and galleries, which she continues part-time alongside PhD research. She also writes regularly, with book reviews and articles on history, culture and politics published in Tribune, Red Pepper and Left Cultures.
Research Interests
Rachel’s PhD focuses on the Merseyside Women’s Liberation Movement from its conception in the late 1960s to its demise in the 1990s, combining neglected archival material, local feminist print cultures, and original oral history interviews as its primary source base. The project aims to explore the complex dynamic between the local and national within the British Women’s Liberation Movement, making a significant contribution to our understanding of feminist and socialist movements as well as women’s wider radical and community activism in Liverpool and Britain during this period. In demonstrating the importance of regional and political context in shaping feminist identities and priorities, this research highlights a complex and diverse narrative of women’s activism in the regions, inclusive of class, race, and activist ‘afterlives’.
Focused primarily on 19th and 20th century British history, wider interests include gender, feminism and women’s activism; working class identities and culture; Left-wing and radical politics; modern and post-war British art; and alternative print cultures and artistic networks.