Welsh Journals

'WARNING HER AS TO HER FUTURE BEHAVIOUR': THE LIVES OF THE WIDOWS OF THE SENGHENYDD MINING DISASTER OF 1913. Catherine Welsby The lives of the widows of the Senghenydd disaster have more than a purely local interest, for they also make an important contribution to the still under-developed areas of labour history and feminist theory. Following a definition and some discussion of feminist theory, this article will use the history of the widows of the 1913 Senghenydd disaster as a case study to support the basic arguments of socialist feminist theory. This will include a brief discussion of the lessons which went unheeded after a previous explosion in Senghenydd in 1901, an analysis of media portrayal of the widows, and an examination of the compensation awards and relief fund grants the widows received as a result of the disaster. The main focus of the discussion will be concerned with this last point, and it will include the setting up of the fund, the financial situation of the widows relative to miners' families, the various means they used to supplement their income, and finally, an analysis of how the executive committee of the relief fund imposed their own moral standards on the recipients. Out of the diversity of feminist theories, it seems the only common factor between them, is their condemnation of women's oppression. However, the source of this oppression, and proposals for female emancipation, are the subjects of intense debate. For example, liberal feminists argue that women's oppression is a result of their being denied equal rights with men, whilst Marxist feminists attribute it to the capitalist mode of production. Radical feminists on the other hand, identify a transhistorical system of patriarchy as the major source of women's oppression: that is that the oppression of women is present in all known societies and is always basically the same. 3 Defining patriarchy however, is more problematic as there are almost as many definitions as there are feminists. However, Hartmann's definition is arguably the most adequate. For her, patriarchy is: a set of social relations between men, which have a material base, and which, though hierarchical, establish or create interdependence and solidarity among men that enable them to dominate women.' 4 Thus, according to radical feminists. men, rather than capitalism are the source of women's oppression. For many, socialist feminism has taken the strengths of both Marxist and radical feminism, since it identifies both capitalism and patriarchy as the two main sources of women's oppression in nineteenth and twentieth century Britain. For this reason, it is often referred to as 'dual systems theory'. 5 However, there are differences between those who see them as two distinct forces, and those who argue that they cannot be mutually exclusive. Moreover, later socialist feminism has become more refined, and has added imperialism and racism amongst its major forces of oppression. 6 This article however, will only focus on capitalism and patriarchy, and it supports the view held by Hartmann that capitalism and patriarchy are two distinct forces. The people of the south Wales coalfield were exposed to both these forces. The worst disaster in the history of the British mining industry, occurred at the Universal colliery,