Locality,gender and co-operation in England: a comment on Barbara J. Blaszak

This article is a response to Barbara Blasak's article on the gendered geography of the English Co-operative movement (Women's History Review, 9, pp. 559-584. It argues that Blasak has neglected important secondary sources on regional complexity, the social structure of Co-operative membership and the division of labour within the household. Her explanation for her interesting finding that women found it more difficult to secure election to Co-operative committees in some parts of England than in others needs to be revised in the light of the full array of available published evidence.