Women, faith, and anti-apartheid activism in late twentieth-century Britain

Between 1989 and 1990 grassroots members of the Methodist women’s movement in Britain made, displayed, and exchanged an anti-apartheid ribbon. Constructed of hundreds of individual panels made by local groups of Methodist women, this ribbon was used to publicly demonstrate solidarity with women campaigning against apartheid in South Africa. Analysing this ribbon as a local, national, and international object, this article highlights how it simultaneously provided ordinary Methodist women with the opportunity to engage in direct anti-apartheid action and acted as a vehicle for communicating, demonstrating, and practically enacting the identity and role of the Methodist women’s movement in Britain during a period of change and development. By doing so, it contributes to developing academic research into the specificity and complexity of women’s activism and the importance of grassroots contributions to the Methodist women’s movement in Britain.