Tea, Scones, and Radicalism Andrew Douglas .............................................................pages

Tea, Scones, and Radicalism

A small group of welleducated, individuals discussing art and society over tea and scones is nothing unusual. If the group started meeting well over a century ago in a once trendy London suburb, it would seem far removed from contemporary society, Moreover, if none were politicians, entrepreneurs or media magnates their infl uenc e would be negligible.

Many books have been written on the original members of the Bloomsbury Group - a collection of legendary British intellectuals some of whom became internationally famous.

They were never a formal group with offi cial membership but loose collection of individuals with shared values and often exceptional talents. Rejecting the Victorian values and models pertaining to the arts and society, Bloomsbury became synonymous with modernism - not only in the arts of painting and literature but in a broader social context concerning human rights and relationships.

Why does this collection of individuals still intrigue authors and academics? What relevance does a bunch of socially privileged highbrows discussing art and society have for us? Are they still relevant in the 21st century? Most of the original members are largely forgotten.

Unlike other groups, their form of activism was through subtle methods: their innovative art, unconventional lifestyles and by using their employment and social contacts to advantage.

Two of the most prominent members are cases in point; economist John Maynard Keynes and author Virginia Woolf. The former had a great infl uence on the laissez faire economics of the time; basically he illustrated that government had a role to play in stimulating the economy during periods of depression. One consequence was that the most vulnerable had some form of safety net. His ideas have evolved into a school of interventionist economics.. Nowadays this is taken for granted but nearly a century earlier it was seen as radical.

Author Virginia Woolf not only developed a signifi cant literary style but also tackled issues of social justice.

In both her fi ction and non-fi ction she examined gender inequality and critiqued the existing class system. In addition, her sociological critique was so ‘controversial’ it raised the ire of the Nazis who placed her on their hit list of prominent enemies of the Reich.

With her husband

Leonard, she founded a publishing house which produced works more conventional publishers avoided and providing a forum for the more ‘radical’ ideas and authors who otherwise would not have been heard.

Bloomsbury as a cultural phenomenon was not always in vogue. In the decades

following the Second World War, it was largely overlooked even forgotten. It is no coincidence that is was during the conservative eras which harked back to supposedly traditional values. Conversely, It was rediscovered during the 1960s with the rise of the women’s movement and campaigns for racial equality and the birth of Gay Liberation. Bloomsbury’s views on gender and sexuality were unconventional to say the least.

Many of them were gay or bisexual or what we now term non-binary. Open relationships were common and some members set up homes with partners of both sexes. Given the social mores and legal sanctions of their time, they had to be relatively closeted beyond their immediate circle. Originally a small group of largely unknown non-conformists speculating on everything from society to human rights and relationships, they unwittingly paved the way for future trends.

The Bloomsbury’s privileged status meant they could indulge in such ‘forbidden fruit.’ Unfortunately, they had to wait decades (and after most of them were long dead) before they could come out of the closet. But they were an example to those in their

circle or loosely connected with it such as family members, employees and companions.

When the Bloomsbury Group started meeting before the First World War, modern society was very diff erent. Far more than today, their world was much more sexist, racist, homophobic and anti-semitic. For example women in the UK did not even have the right to vote and were excluded from certain professions and even some universities. It was a very conservative time of narrow defi nitions of gender and sexuality.

Aside from their innovations in art and social policy, the Bloomsbury Group was an oasis of acceptance in a desert of intolerant conformity. In subsequent decades, the personal freedoms they extolled would extend beyond the privileged middle class to the general public. By questioning the restrictive boundaries of gender and sexuality of their time, they set an example for later generations to follow. Their example illustrates how an intelligent, articulate group of wellconnected individuals can lay the foundations for signifi cant social change.

Although most of them did not live to see the reforms they advocated, they provided role models for successive generations to emulate. In terms of the lifestyles they pursued they were precursors of the sexual revolution which began in earnest during the 1960s. No wonder they are still remembered.