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JOYCE STEVENS 1928-2014Joyce Stevens author, feminist and communist, was born Joyce Barnes in January 6, 1928 in Cullen Bullen near Lithgow in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Her first home was a tin shed. Her father was a railway fettler, moving from job to job. At age six, living near Casino, Joyce recalled that they lived on rabbits and foxes he trapped. Stevens developed a strong sense of social justice in her childhood and read a lot. Stevens was influenced by her mother, Lucie Barnes a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) , the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) and activist in the Australian Women's Charter and the Civilian Widows. She formed the Australian Railway Union's Women's Auxiliary at Casino NSW.In 1942 the family moved to Sydney where Joyce attended North Sydney Girls High a top public school. Her first job was as an articulated clerk at a law firm. She later worked at the Teachers Federation where she was influenced by communist women. Stevens joined the communist party of Australia (CPA) in 1945. Stevens described a 1955 CPA study group to China as "one of the most important events in my life" and returning home she led the CPA's inner-western activities -social policy, education, health, and especially housing.From the mid 1960's Stevens worked full time for the CPA. She honed her writing and editing skills working on the CPA newspaper 'The Tribune'. Stevens was also secretary and general office administrator for Current Book distributions 1963-1972.Joyce Stevens was involved in campaigns for improved living standards, "ban the bomb", environmental causes, opposing nuclear tests in the Pacific, uranium mining and the Vietnam War. In the midst of the evolution of CPA policies and her embrace of these new directions, Stevens had another "blinding flash of light" after reading Simone de Beauvoir and added feminism to her many causes.Stevens helped produce 'Mejane', Women's Liberation's first newspaper and 'Scarlet Woman' , the first socialist-feminist magazine. Stevens helped re-establish the annual International Women's day march and in 1975 wrote because "We're Women" for International Year of Women -since translated into many languages.The first two women's health centre's in Sydney, Leichhardt (LWCHC) and Liverpool were established by Stevens and she was instrumental in setting up the Control Abortion Referral Service.In 1977 the ACTU adopted an amended version of Steven's Working Women's Charter. Stevens helped found the Women's Employment Action Centre(WEAC) which campaigned for better wages and working conditions for women, and attempted to establish a comparable worth case between pay rates of traditional female and traditional male occupations. She worked on its registrar of women in non-traditional jobs.Joyce Stevens became part of the CPA working to reconstruct its "socialist vision" by drawing on feminist, environmental, Aboriginal and multi-cultural inputs and aspirations. She supported the dissolution of the CPA in 1991 believing new forms of organisation were required for the renewal of left politics.Stevens later ( 1995: 92) stated that feminists in the 1970's thought that women would automatically resolve differences with-in a non-hierarchical framework if they had a common purpose. "Today it is no longer possible to see collectivity in these terms . The conflict between individual desires, cultures and beliefs, and the goal of working cooperatively creates the need for an endless process of discussion and reappraisal". A shared sense of common purpose as well as knowledge and effort helps the daunting task to construct a collective, but LWHC has shown that training in the skills of collective work is as important as sharing and learning any other skills.LWCHC's experience is that most  women are more creative and responsible in non-hierarchical decision sharing structures. Some evidence suggests that without a structured connection to a group of concerned women outside of the collective, there is a tendency for the collective to become "too intense and internal". Greater flexibility in the collective's division of skills and information now is based on an acknowledgement that some divisions of labour are appropriate." The issue of how and which skills need to be shared still seems to be an important question for collective work, along with a continuing need to challenge in a practical way the social division between intellectual/professional and practical hands-on activities " (Stevens, 1995: 93).In 1996 Stevens was made an Member of the Order of Australia for her services towards women's social justice.From 1988 Stevens advocated for public housing tenants and the Sydney Public Tenants Council recognized her commitment to public housing.In 2002 she was awarded the Women's Electoral Lobby's Edna Ryan Award.A summary of Joyce Stevens personal achievements and interests includes the following:  Joyce was an  activist in the Australian feminist and union movements of the left that helped change  Australian society. Her participation began  with her membership in the Eureka Youth League in 1942 and the Communist Party (CPA) in 1945. She became an organizer with the Eureka Youth League in 1948, meeting her future husband Jim Stevens, and marrying him in 1949. Stevens separated from Jim in 1970, beginning a 40 year relationship with Margo Moore. In her spare time Stevens creatively quilted, designed jewellery, knitted and enthusiastically gardened. Her manuscripts and papers along with dozens of recorded interviews with women activists are in the State Library of NSW. Joyce Stevens is survived by Margo, children Jennifer and Jamie, grandchildren Jamie, Lachlan , Lucy and Lorna. (Sydney Morning Herald, June 7, 2014) Publications.Stevens, J. (1985)" A History of International Women's Day  in words and images",[ Pennington, S Aust]:IWD Press.Stevens, J. (1976) "Taking the Revolution Home - Work among Women in the Communist Party of Australia 1920-1945", Fitzroy[Vic] :Sybylla Co-operative Press and Publications .Stevens, J. (1991) "Lightening the Load- Women and Work- A History of WEAC 1982-1989", South Sydney, NSW: WEAC.Stevens, J. (1995) "Healing Women-A History of Leichhardt Women's Health Centre", Sydney:  First Ten Years History Project."Because we're Women ..." Written in 1975 for an IWD broadsheet, the words have been republished on Australian and overseas postcards, stickers, posters and t-shirts.Chapters in Publications:McKnight, D. ( 1986) "The Politics of Reconstructing Socialism" in " Moving Left: The Future of Socialism in Australia", Sydney: Pluto Press.Stevens,J. (1980) "Without Fear or Favour: Lucie Barnes" in Windshuttle,E (1980)" Women, Class and History- Feminist Perspective's on Australia -1788-1978", Sydney: Fontana/Collins.Stevens,J. (1993) "A Reasonable Exchange" in Scutt, J.A. (1993) in " Glorious Age: Growing Older Gloriously", Melbourne : Artemis.Documentary Archive:Stevens, J. and Wills, S. Documentary Archive "The First Ten Years of Sydney Women's Liberation" acquired by the State Library of NSW in 1988. Bibliography.State Library of NSW Search 'Joyce Stevens' : Manuscripts, Oral History, and Pictures Catalogue .'Joyce Stevens papers 1912-2005'. Administrative/ Bibliographic Note in 'Record Details ' http://archival-classic.sl.nsw.gov.au/itemDeatailPaged.aspx?itemID=873572 [Accessed 2 May 2017].Stevens, J. "A History of International Women's Day in words and images", http://www.isis.aust.com/iwd/stevens/joyce.htm [ Accessed 2 May 2017]Stevens Joyce ." History of International Women's Day in words and images: The Nineteen seventies and Eighties continued" ,Titled online " 1970's and 1980's part4-A History of International Women's Day .Joyce Stevens. http://www.isis.aust.com/iwd/stevens/70580s_4htm . [Accessed 16 May 2017]