Peggy Antrobus (born 1935) is a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

activist, author, and scholar from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. She served as Advisor on Women's Affairs to the government of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, and as

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

advisor to the

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Ministry of Social Transformation. She is a founder member of several feminist organisations, including the

Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) is a nongovernmental organization that advocates for women's rights and empowerment in the Caribbean. The regional network, which serves as an umbrella organization for progressive ...

(CAFRA), the global South feminist network

Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) is a transnational feminist network of scholars, researchers and activists from the global South. DAWN works under the gender, ecology and economic justice (GEEJ) framework, which highlights ...

(DAWN), and the

International Gender and Trade Network International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * International (New Order album), ' ...

(IGTN). She is the author of ''The Global Women's Movement: Origins, Issues and Strategies'' (

Zed Books Zed Books is an independent non-fiction publishing company based in London, UK. It was founded in 1977 under the name Zed Press by Roger van Zwanenberg. Zed publishes books for an international audience of both general and academic readers, co ...

, 2004).

Childhood and education

Antrobus was born in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

in 1935. She studied in

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

at St. Joseph's Convent and later at the St. Vincent Girl's High School. She did her bachelor's in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 1954, and went on to receive a professional certificate in

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, United Kingdom. She completed her doctorate in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

, Amherst in 1998.

Career

Antrobus was appointed the advisor on Women's Affairs to the government of Jamaica in 1974. According to Michelle Rowley, associate professor of

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, this was the beginning of Antrobus' feminist consciousness. In 1987, she set up the Women and Development Unit (WAND) at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

(UWI) and was its head until she retired in 1995. With other Caribbean activists, artists, and scholars like

Honor Ford-Smith Honor Maria Ford-Smith (born 1951 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Jamaican actress, playwright, scholar, and poet. The daughter of a brown Jamaican mother and an English father, Ford-Smith is sometimes described as "Jamaica white," signalling a person ...

Sonia Cuales Sonia Magdalena Cuales (October 3, 1941 – July 14, 2018) was a Curaçaoan Feminism, feminist activist and writer. Her work in the United Nations system and with various advocacy groups focused on the intersection of women's rights and development ...

Cynthia Ellis Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cynd ...

, Joan French, Rhoda Reddock, and Rawwida Baksh-Soodeen, Antrobus set up the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), in 1985. She was also a founder member of Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN) and functioned as the organization's general coordinator for the from 1990 to 1996. With many other leading feminists and women's rights activists of the time, Peggy Antrobus was deeply involved in the UN World Conferences on Women, including the first at Mexico City in 1975. US feminist and author

Charlotte Bunch Charlotte Bunch (born October 13, 1944) is an American feminist author and organizer in women's rights and human rights movements. Bunch is currently the founding director and senior scholar at the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers ...

, quotes Antrobus as saying, about this inaugural international gathering of women: "It was within this context that women from around the world first encountered each other in a sustained and ever-deepening process....

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

was to nurture and expand this movement in a way that not even its strongest protagonists could have imagined."

Writing

Peggy Antrobus authored an analytical and historical overview of

global feminism Global feminism is a feminist theory closely aligned with post-colonial theory and postcolonial feminism. It concerns itself primarily with the forward movement of women's rights on a global scale. Using different historical lenses from the lega ...

and the international

women's movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such is ...

in her book, ''The Global Women's Movement: Origins, Issues and Strategies'' (Zed Books, 2004). She contributed an essay to Robin Morgan's anthology, ''Sisterhood is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology'' (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1984).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antrobus, Peggy Grenadian human rights activists Women human rights activists Feminist writers 1935 births Living people Grenadian writers Grenadian women writers Grenadian women activists Grenadian activists Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Birmingham University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni