A Cultural History of Work in the Age of Empire (The Cultural Histories Series)

Winner of the 2020 PROSE Award for Multivolume Reference/Humanities The period 1800–1920 was one in which work processes were dramatically transformed by mechanization, factory system, the abolition of the guilds, the integration of national markets and expansion into overseas colonies. While some continued to work in trades that were similar to those of their parents and grandparents, increasing numbers of workers found their workplace and work processes changed, often in ways that were beyond their control. Workers employed a variety of means to protest these changes, from machine-breaking to strikes to migration. This period saw the rise of the labor union and the working-class political party. It was also a time during which ideas about work changed dramatically. Work came to be seen as a source of pride, progress and even liberation, and workers garnered increased interest from writers and artists. This volume explores the multi-faceted experience of workers during the Age of Empire. A Cultural History of Work in the Age of Empire presents an overview of the period with essays on economies, representations of work, workplaces, work cultures, technology, mobility, society, politics and leisure. How has our relationship with work changed for different cultures over the centuries? What effect has it had on politics, art and religion? In a work that spans 2,500 years these ambitious questions are addressed by 63 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. With the help of a broad range of case material they illustrate broad trends and nuances of the culture of work in Western culture from antiquity to the present. Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six. The six volumes cover : 1 Antiquity (500 BCE to 800 CE); 2 Medieval Age (800 to 1450); 3 Early Modern Age (1450 to 1650); 4 Age of Enlightenment (1650 to 1800); 5 Age of Empire (1800 to 1920); 6 Modern Age (1920 to the present). Themes (and chapter titles) The Economy of Work; Picturing Work; Work and Workplaces; Workplace Cultures; Work, Skill and Technology; Work and Mobility; The Political Culture of Work; and Work and Leisure. The page extent for the pack is approximately 1,400 pages. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors and an Introduction, and concludes with Notes, Bibliography, and an Index. The Cultural Histories Series A Cultural History of Work is part of The Cultural Histories Series . Titles are available both as printed hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a one-off purchase and tangible reference for their shelves, or as part of a fully-searchable digital library available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access (see (http://www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com) www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com ). In the early modern age technological innovations were unimportant relative to political and social transformations. The size of the workforce and the number of wage dependent people increased, due in large part to population growth, but also as a result of changes in the organization of work. The diversity of workplaces in many significant economic sectors was on the rise in the 16th-century: family farming, urban crafts and trades, and large enterprises in mining, printing and shipbuilding. Moreover, the increasing influence of global commerce, as accompanied by local and regional specialization, prompted an increased reliance on forms of under-compensated and non-compensated work which were integral to economic growth. Economic volatility swelled the ranks of the mobile poor, who moved along Europe's roads seeking sustenance, and the endemic warfare of the period prompted young men to sign on as soldiers and sailors. Colonists migrated to Europe's territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, while others were forced overseas as servants, convicts or slaves. The early modern age proved to be a "renaissance" in the political, social and cultural contexts of work which set the stage for the technological developments to come. A Cultural History of Work in the Early Modern Age presents an overview of the period with essays on economies, representations of work, workplaces, work cultures, technology, mobility, society, politics and leisure. -- publisher's website Cover Contents List of Figures Contributors General Editors’ Preface Introduction 1 The Economy of Work 2 Picturing Work 3 Work and Workplaces 4 Workplace Culture 5 Work, Skill, and Technology 6 Work and Mobility 7 Work and Society 8 The Political Culture of Work 9 Work and Leisure Notes Further Readings Index