CONCLUSIONS
Female philanthropy on the domestic and imperial stages may be interpreted critically, whilst not losing sight of the positive outcomes of middle-class women's engagement with the class and race dynamics of industrial society.
Many women acted out of a genuine concern at the predicament of the oppressed. Perhaps naively, they moved into the realms where they believed their common interests as women, wives and mothers would overcome class and race differences. In some respects, and with regard to particular issues, they were successful. The anti-slavery campaign was one example of an early critical engagement with imperial policies which was lacking in the moral superiority characteristic of later campaigns. Yet, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that middle-class women gained more for themselves through their efforts than they did for those they aimed to help. The organisational practice and confidence in public speaking and campaigning gained through their involvement in philanthropic work at home and overseas certainly stood the activists in good stead when they moved on — as many did — to campaign for women's civil and political rights. Furthermore, it was their engagement with women's issues in foreign contexts that made campaigners realise not only that they could use their moral superiority as a lever against governments, but also that they themselves needed to be involved in political decision-making if they were to have any significant impact on the policies they criticised. The road from domestic and imperial philanthropy to the suffrage campaign was twisted and beset with diversions, but it is plain to see the linkages in terms of personnel, strategies and discourses on gender, class and race. The race and class tensions and hierarchies that gave feminists a platform were reinforced as the same women attempted to dismantle the gender hierarchies they perceived as a constraint on their own freedom.