“Political … civil and domestic slavery”: Harriet Taylor Mill and Anna Doyle Wheeler on marriage, servitude, and socialism

McCabe, Helen

Abstract

Harriet Taylor Mill and Anna Wheeler are two 19th century British feminists generally over-shadowed by the fame of the men with whom they co-authored (respectively John Stuart Mill and William Thompson). Yet both made important, and interesting, contributions to political thought, particularly regarding deconstruction of the patriarchal institution of marriage; and the current property regime which – they believed – in dominating workers, unfairly distributing the product of labour, and encouraging ‘individualism’ did little to maximise the general happiness. Both were feminists, utilitarians, and socialists. How they link these three core elements is both interestingly similar, and interestingly different. This article has four aims. Firstly, to make a strong claim concerning their authorial hand in works often considered to be solely the work of their male co-author. Secondly, to sketch those co-authoring relationships, and consider whether Taylor Mill and Stuart Mill may even have consciously constructed their early letters On Marriage on what they knew of Thompson and Wheeler’s relationship. Thirdly, to map out their shared, though not identical, claim that marriage was a form of slavery, and the proposals they offered to free women from the domination of patriarchal relationships. Fourthly, to explore the way in which both thought female emancipation would be most truly realised via cooperative socialism.

Citation

McCabe, H. (2021). “Political … civil and domestic slavery”: Harriet Taylor Mill and Anna Doyle Wheeler on marriage, servitude, and socialism. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 29(2), 226-243. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2020.1750348

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 26, 2020
• Online Publication Date: May 4, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 22, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 5, 2021
• Journal: British Journal for the History of Philosophy
• Print ISSN: 0960-8788
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-3526
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 226-243
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2020.1750348
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3783181
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09608788.2020.1750348
• Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in British Journal for the History of Philosophy, published by Taylor & Francis.; ; This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in British Journal for the History of Philosophy on 04.05.20, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09608788.2020.1750348