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'''Amrit Wilson''' (born 1941),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/biographies/42835354/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|work=Women of Substance: Profiles of Asian Women in the UK|date=1997|page=152|via= EBSCOhost}}{{dead link|date=November 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Indian by birth and based in Britain,<ref name=MediaDiversified>{{cite web|url=https://mediadiversified.org/2019/01/17/south-asian-women-in-britain-finding-a-voice-40-years-on/|title=South Asian women in Britain: Finding a voice, 40 years on|website=[[Media Diversified]]|date=17 January 2019|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> is a writer, journalist and activist who since the 1970s has focused on issues of race and gender in Britain and South Asian politics.<ref name=galdem>{{cite web|url=https://gal-dem.com/collective-past-amrit-wilson-reflects-anti-racist-feminist-work/|title='Reclaiming our collective past': Amrit Wilson reflects on 40 years of anti-racist feminist work|website=[[gal-dem]]|first=Sophia|last= Siddiqui|date=30 October 2018|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> Her 1978 book ''Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain''<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030639687802000203|title=A burning fever: the isolation of Asian women in Britain|journal=[[Race & Class]]|volume= 20|issue =2| date=1 October 1978|doi=10.1177/030639687802000203|last1=Wilson|first1=Amrit|pages=129–142|s2cid=145473127}}</ref> won the Martin Luther King Award, and remains an influential feminist book.<ref name=MediaDiversified /> Her other book publications include ''Dreams, Questions, Struggles: South Asian Women in Britain'' (London: [[Pluto Press]], 2006), and as a journalist she has been published in outlets including ''Ceasefire Magazine'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/author/amrit-wilson/|title=Amrit Wilson|magazine=Ceasefire|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> ''[[Media Diversified]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mediadiversified.org/category/amrit-wilson/|title=Category: Amrit Wilson|website=Media Dversified|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> [[openDemocracy]]<ref name=OD>{{cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/author/amrit-wilson/|title=Amrit Wilson|website=Open Democracy}}</ref> and ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ihrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IC2017speakerbios.pdf|title=Speaker bios|publisher=Islamophobia Conference 2017: The Rise of Nativism}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
{{Short description|British-Indian writer and activist (born 1941)}}
{{Infobox person
| name              =
| image              =
| image_size        =
| alt                =
| caption            =
| birth_name        =
| birth_place        = India
| birth_date        = {{Birth year and age|1941}}
| other_names        =
| education          =
| awards            =
| occupation        = Writer, journalist and activist
| years_active      =
| notable_works      = ''Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'' (1978)
| website            =
}}
'''Amrit Wilson''' (born 1941)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/biographies/42835354/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|work=Women of Substance: Profiles of Asian Women in the UK|date=1997|page=152|via= EBSCOhost}}{{dead link|date=November 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> is a British-Indian<ref name=MediaDiversified>{{cite web|url=https://mediadiversified.org/2019/01/17/south-asian-women-in-britain-finding-a-voice-40-years-on/|title=South Asian women in Britain: Finding a voice, 40 years on|website=[[Media Diversified]]|date=17 January 2019|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> writer, journalist and activist who since the 1970s has focused on issues of race and gender in Britain and South Asian politics.<ref name=galdem>{{cite web|url=https://gal-dem.com/collective-past-amrit-wilson-reflects-anti-racist-feminist-work/|title='Reclaiming our collective past': Amrit Wilson reflects on 40 years of anti-racist feminist work|website=[[gal-dem]]|first=Sophia|last= Siddiqui|date=30 October 2018|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> Her 1978 book ''Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain''<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030639687802000203|title=A burning fever: the isolation of Asian women in Britain|journal=[[Race & Class]]|volume= 20|issue =2| date=1 October 1978|doi=10.1177/030639687802000203|last1=Wilson|first1=Amrit|pages=129–142|s2cid=145473127|url-access=subscription}}</ref> won the Martin Luther King Award, and remains an influential feminist book.<ref name=MediaDiversified /> Her other book publications include ''Dreams, Questions, Struggles: South Asian Women in Britain'' (London: [[Pluto Press]], 2006), and as a journalist she has been published in outlets including ''Ceasefire Magazine'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/author/amrit-wilson/|title=Amrit Wilson|magazine=Ceasefire|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> ''[[Media Diversified]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mediadiversified.org/category/amrit-wilson/|title=Category: Amrit Wilson|website=Media Dversified|date=16 July 2015 |accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref> [[openDemocracy]]<ref name=OD>{{cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/author/amrit-wilson/|title=Amrit Wilson|website=Open Democracy|date=22 July 2020 }}</ref> and ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ihrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IC2017speakerbios.pdf|title=Speaker bios|publisher=Islamophobia Conference 2017: The Rise of Nativism}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>


==Background==
==Background==
Wilson grew up in India and came to Britain as a student in 1961. She became a freelance journalist in 1974, and was active as an anti-racist militant in the 1970s.<ref name="Donnell2002">{{cite book|editor-link=Alison Donnell|editor=Alison Donnell|title=Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfdpdZ9DwH0C&pg=PA323-4|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-70025-7|pages=323–4|chapter=Seth, Roshan}}</ref> Wilson's book ''Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'', first published in 1978 and reprinted 40 years later,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ihrc.org.uk/activities/event-reports/20653-event-report-finding-a-voice-asian-women-in-britain/|title=Event Report – 'Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'|publisher=Islamic Human Rights Commission|date=6 March 2019}}</ref> has been described as "[c]hallenging the views of South Asian women as weak, submissive, one-dimensional stereotypes" and as having "cleared the space for Asian women to speak for themselves".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.redpepper.org.uk/finding-a-voice-asian-women-in-britain/|title= Review – Finding a Voice: Asian women in Britain|magazine=[[Red Pepper (magazine)|Red Pepper]]|first=Maya|last=Goodfellow|date=8 June 2019|accessdate=7 October 2020}}</ref> Wilson was a founder member of Awaz, the UK's first Asian feminist collective, and was active in [[OWAAD]], the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent (1978–82).<ref name=galdem /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/people/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|publisher=[[British Library]]}}</ref> She was formerly chair of [[Imkaan]], a national network of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee women's refuges and services for women facing violence, and is a founder member of South Asia Solidarity Group.<ref name=OD /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://strikeatimperial.net/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|website=The Strike at Imperial Typewriters|accessdate=13 September 2020}}</ref>
Wilson grew up in India and came to Britain as a student in 1961. She became a freelance journalist in 1974, and was active as an anti-racist militant in the 1970s.<ref name="Donnell2002">{{cite book|editor-link=Alison Donnell|editor-first=Alison |editor-last=Donnell|title=Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfdpdZ9DwH0C&pg=PA323-4|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-70025-7|pages=323–4|chapter=Seth, Roshan}}</ref> Wilson's book ''Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'', first published in 1978 and reprinted 40 years later,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ihrc.org.uk/activities/event-reports/20653-event-report-finding-a-voice-asian-women-in-britain/|title=Event Report – 'Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'|publisher=Islamic Human Rights Commission|date=6 March 2019}}</ref> has been described as "[c]hallenging the views of South Asian women as weak, submissive, one-dimensional stereotypes" and as having "cleared the space for Asian women to speak for themselves".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.redpepper.org.uk/finding-a-voice-asian-women-in-britain/|title= Review – Finding a Voice: Asian women in Britain|magazine=[[Red Pepper (magazine)|Red Pepper]]|first=Maya|last=Goodfellow|date=8 June 2019|accessdate=7 October 2020}}</ref> Wilson was a founder member of Awaz, the UK's first Asian feminist collective, and was active in [[OWAAD]], the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent (1978–82).<ref name=galdem /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/people/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|publisher=[[British Library]]}}</ref> She was formerly chair of [[Imkaan]], a national network of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee women's refuges and services for women facing violence, and is a founder member of South Asia Solidarity Group.<ref name=OD /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://strikeatimperial.net/amrit-wilson|title=Amrit Wilson|website=The Strike at Imperial Typewriters|accessdate=13 September 2020|archive-date=15 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615224609/https://strikeatimperial.net/amrit-wilson|url-status=dead}}</ref>


She also was Senior Lecturer in Women's Studies/South Asian Studies at [[Luton University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.plutobooks.com/author/amrit-wilson/|title=Amrit Wilson|publisher=Pluto Press}}</ref>
She also was Senior Lecturer in Women's Studies/South Asian Studies at [[Luton University]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.plutobooks.com/author/amrit-wilson/|title=Amrit Wilson|publisher=Pluto Press}}</ref> and has carried an [[Overseas Citizenship of India]] (OCI).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-23 |title=Hearing adjourned in journalist's revision plea on cancelled OCI card |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/hearing-adjourned-in-journalists-revision-plea-on-cancelled-oci-card-8623705/ |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>
 
In April 2024, Wilson revealed that she had had her OCI card withdrawn by the Indian government and is unable to travel to India after having been accused of "anti-India activities" and "detrimental propaganda against India."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barnett |first=Marcus |date=2024-04-26 |title=Solidarity With Amrit Wilson |url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/04/solidarity-with-amrit-wilson |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506231600/https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/04/solidarity-with-amrit-wilson |archive-date=2024-05-06 |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=[[Tribune (magazine)|Tribune]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>


==Selected bibliography==
==Selected bibliography==
* ''Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'' (1978; second edition Daraja Press, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1988832012}})
* ''Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'' (1978; second edition Daraja Press, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1988832012}})
* ''The Challenge Road: Women and the Eritrean Revolution'' (The Red Sea Press, 1991, {{ISBN|978-0932415714}})
* ''The Challenge Road: Women and the Eritrean Revolution'' ([[The Red Sea Press]], 1991, {{ISBN|978-0932415714}})
* ''Dreams, Questions, Struggles: South Asian Women in Britain'' (London: [[Pluto Press]], 2006; {{ISBN|9780745318479}})
* ''Dreams, Questions, Struggles: South Asian Women in Britain'' (London: [[Pluto Press]], 2006; {{ISBN|9780745318479}})
* ''The Threat of Liberation'' (Pluto Press, 2013; {{ISBN|9781849649407}})
* ''The Threat of Liberation'' (Pluto Press, 2013; {{ISBN|9781849649407}})
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{{Authority control}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Amrit}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Amrit}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British women activists]]
[[Category:British women journalists]]
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:Indian women journalists]]
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:20th-century British journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century British women journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women journalists]]
[[Category:British women activists]]
[[Category:Indian activists]]
[[Category:Indian women academics]]
[[Category:Indian women activists]]
[[Category:Indian women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Indian women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Indian women academics]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People who lost Indian citizenship]]
[[Category:People with Overseas Citizenship of India]]

Latest revision as of 13:20, 18 February 2026


Amrit Wilson
Born1941 (age 84–85)
India
OccupationWriter, journalist and activist
Notable work
Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain (1978)

Amrit Wilson (born 1941)[1] is a British-Indian[2] writer, journalist and activist who since the 1970s has focused on issues of race and gender in Britain and South Asian politics.[3] Her 1978 book Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain[4] won the Martin Luther King Award, and remains an influential feminist book.[2] Her other book publications include Dreams, Questions, Struggles: South Asian Women in Britain (London: Pluto Press, 2006), and as a journalist she has been published in outlets including Ceasefire Magazine,[5] Media Diversified,[6] openDemocracy[7] and The Guardian.[8][9]

Background[edit | edit source]

Wilson grew up in India and came to Britain as a student in 1961. She became a freelance journalist in 1974, and was active as an anti-racist militant in the 1970s.[10] Wilson's book Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain, first published in 1978 and reprinted 40 years later,[11] has been described as "[c]hallenging the views of South Asian women as weak, submissive, one-dimensional stereotypes" and as having "cleared the space for Asian women to speak for themselves".[12] Wilson was a founder member of Awaz, the UK's first Asian feminist collective, and was active in OWAAD, the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent (1978–82).[3][13] She was formerly chair of Imkaan, a national network of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee women's refuges and services for women facing violence, and is a founder member of South Asia Solidarity Group.[7][14]

She also was Senior Lecturer in Women's Studies/South Asian Studies at Luton University,[15] and has carried an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI).[16]

In April 2024, Wilson revealed that she had had her OCI card withdrawn by the Indian government and is unable to travel to India after having been accused of "anti-India activities" and "detrimental propaganda against India."[17]

Selected bibliography[edit | edit source]

  • Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain (1978; second edition Daraja Press, 2019, ISBN 978-1988832012)
  • The Challenge Road: Women and the Eritrean Revolution (The Red Sea Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0932415714)
  • Dreams, Questions, Struggles: South Asian Women in Britain (London: Pluto Press, 2006; ISBN 9780745318479)
  • The Threat of Liberation (Pluto Press, 2013; ISBN 9781849649407)

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Amrit Wilson". Women of Substance: Profiles of Asian Women in the UK. 1997. p. 152 – via EBSCOhost.[dead link]
  2. 2.0 2.1 "South Asian women in Britain: Finding a voice, 40 years on". Media Diversified. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Siddiqui, Sophia (30 October 2018). "'Reclaiming our collective past': Amrit Wilson reflects on 40 years of anti-racist feminist work". gal-dem. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  4. Wilson, Amrit (1 October 1978). "A burning fever: the isolation of Asian women in Britain". Race & Class. 20 (2): 129–142. doi:10.1177/030639687802000203. S2CID 145473127.
  5. "Amrit Wilson". Ceasefire. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. "Category: Amrit Wilson". Media Dversified. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Amrit Wilson". Open Democracy. 22 July 2020.
  8. "Speaker bios" (PDF). Islamophobia Conference 2017: The Rise of Nativism.
  9. "Amrit Wilson". The Guardian.
  10. Donnell, Alison, ed. (2002). "Seth, Roshan". Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. pp. 323–4. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.
  11. "Event Report – 'Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain'". Islamic Human Rights Commission. 6 March 2019.
  12. Goodfellow, Maya (8 June 2019). "Review – Finding a Voice: Asian women in Britain". Red Pepper. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  13. "Amrit Wilson". British Library.
  14. "Amrit Wilson". The Strike at Imperial Typewriters. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  15. "Amrit Wilson". Pluto Press.
  16. "Hearing adjourned in journalist's revision plea on cancelled OCI card". The Indian Express. 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  17. Barnett, Marcus (2024-04-26). "Solidarity With Amrit Wilson". Tribune. Archived from the original on 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2024-05-06.