Abstract

This case study reconstructs and analyses the development and experiences of Rosina (Rose) Smith from her birth in 1891 in Putney, England to her death in 1985 in Beijing, China. Over the span of her lifetime, she was among other things, a communist local strike leader of women, a functionary in the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), and a propagandist journalist working for the Daily Worker in London and Xinhua in Beijing. The factors that might have influenced her in her choice of activities are discussed. The socio-political environments in which she operated are described. The approach adopted in the thesis has been proposed by Peter Leonard. Instead of presenting Rose Smith as a separate and atomised entity, she is comprehended as an individual whose social identity was constructed by her gender, her working-class background, and her membership of the CPGB and the communist community with its distinct social and cultural norms. The sources consulted for this study are Rose Smith's writings, her interviews given to Roland Berger, archival materials of the Communist Party, various British and Chinese newspapers. Several interviews with family members, friends and former colleagues of Rose Smith were also conducted.