Ruth Davidson – författare

This volume explores the priorities and hopes, strategies and campaigns, and achievements and failures of women who sought to shape British politics in different ways across the half century between the Attlee and Blair governments. It examines two central questions: what impact did women have on British politics in the second half of the twentieth century? And what did politics mean to women themselves? The authors argue that women were able to create significant political change, often discreet, gradual, behind-the-scenes, and longer term. But it happened nonetheless, forming new crevices, shorelines, and promontories on the map of British politics, and shifting the terrain for men as well as women. This change should not be underestimated, even when its limitations are clear. They also note that there was no revolutionary or dramatic change in women's political involvement across this period. The impact of women's political activity was uneven, and its influence did not go as far as advocates hoped. But cumulatively, women's efforts have profound and far-reaching consequences for conventional politics as well as for women's lives. This exploration demonstrates that British political history can be enriched and enlivened by greater attention to women and gender, and political history must continue to be an important part of women's history.Chapter 9 is open access and available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

'Modern, punchy and fresh' Sunday Times'A positive and fascinating read' Stylist 'A collection of unexpectedly revealing interviews with "mould-breaking women"... This optimistic volume also includes an intimate memoir from Davidson herself' Guardian ******************************************************************The woman who trains Indian special forces in armed and unarmed combat, the IMF Chair, the UK's most capped footballer, a dotcom millionaire, the BBC's first female political editor, a member of the Royal Household, an eminent forensic scientist, an Olympic gold-medallist, a prime minister... this book is for every daughter, every mother, every aunt and every niece, as eighteen of the world's mould-breaking women share the life lessons they've learned. Every single one of them has shown that yes, she can. Revealing, enthralling, informing, in Yes She Can Ruth Davidson weaves her own inspiring journey with these personal stories into a timely rallying call for generations to come.

This open access book offers a new approach to understandings of welfare in modern Britain. Foregrounding the agency individuals and groups claimed through experiential expertise, it traces deep connections between personal experience, welfare, and activism across diverse settings in modern Britain. The experiential experts studied in this collection include women, students, children, women who have sex with women, bereaved families, community groups, individuals living in poverty, adults whose status sits outside professional categories, health service users, and people of faith. Chapters trace how these groups have used their experiences to assert an expert witness status and have sought out new spaces to expand the scope, inclusivity, and applicability of welfare services.

This open access book offers a new approach to understandings of welfare in modern Britain. Foregrounding the agency individuals and groups claimed through experiential expertise, it traces deep connections between personal experience, welfare, and activism across diverse settings in modern Britain. The experiential experts studied in this collection include women, students, children, women who have sex with women, bereaved families, community groups, individuals living in poverty, adults whose status sits outside professional categories, health service users, and people of faith. Chapters trace how these groups have used their experiences to assert an expert witness status and have sought out new spaces to expand the scope, inclusivity, and applicability of welfare services.