Gender Equalities at Work: an Interdisciplinary History of 50 Years of Legislation

This project will produce the first comprehensive interdisciplinary history of the creation, trajectories, legacies and lived experiences of the Equal Pay Act 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (now integrated for GB in the Equality Act 2010) across the four nations of the UK.

It is approaching 50 years since the enactment of this landmark legislation which, in theory, introduced the principle of gender equality into the workplace as a statutory requirement. Its practical inadequacies have attracted almost constant evaluation and commentary ever since, leading to further changes or adaptations (often through 'soft' law rather than statute). UK-made law has also been shaped by - and, in turn, has influenced - European legal institutions and frameworks. Yet, the full story of the directions that workplace gender equality law has taken across time - of why, with what significance and, importantly, by and for whom the law has been used - remains unwritten. Moreover a tendency (within disciplines such as social policy and legal studies) to focus on the law's (current) limitations, has meant that there has been little retrospective analysis of the process of change itself: of understanding how the terms of debate have been shifted, of the personal (and collective) skill, creativity and energy this has entailed, and of the tools that have been used to do this. Alongside its examination of the trajectories of i) equal pay and ii) sex discrimination, this project will be the first to examine the history of responses to iii) workplace sexual harassment (judged to be a form of discrimination in 1986) up to and including #MeToo.

The project will examine the period from 1964 (when equal pay was first included as a party manifesto commitment) until 2020 (departure from the European Union), drawing in the first instance on methods and sources that are historical (and used widely in gender history and legal history). It will collect archival sources from a wide range of UK repositories and undertake oral history interviews with 40 'key actors' (including lawyers, litigants, campaigners, trade unionists, and equality commissioners) to retrieve the history of the law in action, as agency, and as personal experience. It also aims to develop an interdisciplinary toolkit for understanding change as a dynamic process by drawing on concepts and frameworks from feminist political science and industrial relations. We will construct a multi-dimensional timeline of the architectures, actors and discourses associated with gender equality legislation, identifying and, subsequently, analysing key junctures or moments of change to understand how they came about and with what effects. Whilst focusing on gender, the project will examine its intersection with other categories that are constitutive of workplace inequality, particularly race/ethnicity, religion and life-cycle. The project will be the first history to examine the influence of intersectionality on legal thinking and campaigning in relation to UK workplace gender equality as well as the difficulties experienced in giving intersectionality legal form.

The project will result in a set of academic articles that are likely to be of interest to scholars of legal history, women's and gender history, labour history, and gender studies. A public-facing website hosting a wide range of resources and materials will be designed for use by teachers, students, campaigners and advocacy groups. In exploring how and in what ways change has come about, it will highlight successful tools and strategies that have been used previously by campaigners (as well as reasons for failure), and offer personal insights from the perspective of those centrally involved as 'lessons from history'. We will also curate a mobile exhibition to support talks/events for those involved in government, policy-making and campaigning now, enhancing historical awareness of the nature of change over the last 50 years.

Workplace gender inequality is currently at the forefront of public debate (as, for example, in media coverage of the 2019 equal pay tribunal brought by presenter Samira Ahmed against the BBC), whilst the 50th anniversaries of the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Acts are likely to lead to significant retrospection. Thus the 'historical' issues covered by the project remain live now. We will work closely with our Advisory Group and other stakeholders to curate website materials and carefully tailored events to meet the needs and interests of the following groups.

1) Advocacy groups, campaigners and activists (including trade unions)

Those engaged in campaigning now will be interested in their own history - and the complicated direction of travel leading to the present conjuncture. Our analysis of how change (while limited) has taken place - and our highlighting of strategies, tools, and mechanisms that have been successful sometimes despite the odds (as well as reasons for failure) - has potential to be used for training purposes. Discussion of past scenarios may shed light on what is specifically different (or, indeed, surprisingly the same) now - and will enable assessment of what is possible. Personal narratives captured through oral histories (which we aim to make available in extracted form on the website) have capacity to inspire and to provide human insight into experiences of campaigning; we will also co-produce events and seminars.

2) Legal professionals, parliamentarians and civil servants

There is considerable debate at present regarding the future direction of Equalities architectures and legal frameworks in the UK with departure from the European Union - and outcomes remain unclear. The work of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission was recently reviewed by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (HC 1470, July 2019), which recommended refocusing its work and a broadening of the role of a new single labour market enforcement body. Any likely shift away from the EU raises questions about the previous inter-relationship between UK and EU law over the last 50 years and its (dis)entanglement in order to plan a future legislative path. We will contribute a historical perspective to legal and policy debates by producing a History & Policy Briefing Paper, blogposts, and events curated for lawyers, parliamentarians and civil servants in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London.

3) Broadcast and media journalists

Given its timeliness and policy relevance, our project is likely to attract the interest of the programme makers of Radio 4 Woman's Hour, Talking Allowed or Making History, as well as the editors of History Today and BBC History. Our rolling blog will enable us to connect with the media from the project start and the research team will make use of their existing media contacts (including for BBC Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

4) Teachers, students and a broad general public

Women's history and gender history generate considerable public interest. Contemporary history subject matter (within living memory) enables older people to engage in personal reflection on their own life story; they will access our project findings through broadcast and media coverage but may also be drawn to our website for personal research purposes. For younger age groups (eg. 6th form and higher education students), topics relating to human rights, equality, activism and feminism are matters of current interest whose historical origins may be explored within school or university curricula. We will ensure that teachers of history, sociology and politics are aware of our website and the scope for harnessing its resources for project work (eg. Extended Project Qualification, English and Welsh schools; undergraduate dissertations). We will aim to publicise the project in the Times Educational Supplement, and through subject teaching associations in history, sociology and politics.