Prisoners of Conscience: Labour, Religion, and Gender in Conscientious Objectors’ Second World War Protests

Abstract

This article explores a strain of antitotalitarian critique that emerged out of conscientious objectors’ experiences with the Civilian Public Service programme during the Second World War. A complex interplay of ideas about labour, religion, and manly dignity animated this critique. The author places the actions of ‘radicals’ like Don DeVault, Stanley Murphy, and Louis Taylor in their wider religious and labour-driven contexts. Crucially, the article offers a fresh perspective on conscientious objectors’ protests against the immediate World War context that stresses the importance of the ‘dignity of labour.’