Living Humanitarian Dreams: The Oneiric and Spiritual Life and Activism of Elizabeth Wilson (1909–2000)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the diaries, autobiographies and dream journals of Elizabeth Wilson (1909-2000), founder of Huddersfield Famine Relief Committee (Hudfam), long-term activist of CND and member of Oxfam. Taken together with her journalism for the local press and for Hudfam and Oxfam publications, her activism and writings cover the period between 1942 and 1999. Using the historiography and the sociology of emotions and dreams this article proposes to analyse afresh the spiritual grounding of localised humanitarian work and internationalism. By considering together her humanitarian work, her pacifist activism and her subsequent humanitarian work both at home and abroad this article can then engage with the manner in which dreamwork and dream analysis brought together the different strands of her activism rooted in spiritualism.