Aims of the Project
This research aims to answer key questions about women’s involvement in the anti-nuclear movement, including:
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Who were these women?
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What motivated them to join the movement?
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What were their experiences of the movement like?
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How did they participate?
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What protest activities did they participate in?
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What role did they play in the movement?
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How did their involvement in this movement influence any later involvement in other social or protest movements, including the second wave feminist movement, the green movement or the anti-uranium movement?
The project aims to broaden historical understanding both of women’s political activity and of the Australian anti-nuclear movement as a whole. It aims to see investigate whether Australian women were more active outside the home in the 1950s and 1960s than has previously been assumed; what expressions that activity may have taken; whether this activity contradicted contemporary gender norms; if so, why they may have chosen to act outside of expected gender norms; and, finally, how their experiences in the movement shaped their lives. This project also aims to understand the Australian anti-nuclear movement, including investigating how prevalent it was in Australian society.