Books in the Studies in Labour History series

The author argues that some of the conventional wisdom on child labour can be qualified, and even questioned, if we turn from the experiences of leading 19th-century countries, such as Britain and France, to economically and politically weaker countries of Northern Europe.

Once the heartland of British labour history, trade unionism became marginalized in much late 20th-century scholarship. In a critical survey from the earliest times to the 19th century, this book argues for its reinstatement as a window on the broader historical landscape.

Focuses on the status of small, sometimes tiny, groups of women holding marginal positions in the labour market, and often employed on a an irregular basis.

Challenges narratives of German history that equate modernity with the industrial and the urban, instead suggesting that rural inhabitants participated actively in the broader debates and crises that defined modernity in the Imperial and Weimar eras, particularly concerning debates over individual rights versus collective national duties.

Second of the two volumes, this book examines the place of the National Union of Mineworkers in post-war British politics. Covering the years 1969 to 1995, it charts reactions to the pit closures programme of the late 1950s and 1960s and the development of the NUM's reputation as the union that could topple governments.

By focusing on the experiences of British women between 1850 and 1950, this collection vividly demonstrates that the association of 'work' with paid labour is problematic and that the categories of 'work', 'leisure' and 'consumption' must be viewed as overlapping and inter-linked rather than as separate entities.

Analyses how women workers influenced patterns of industrial organization and offers a fresh perspective on relationships between gender and work and on industrial development. Drawing upon examples of women's subversive activities and attitudes toward the discourses of labour, this book emphasizes the variety of women's work experiences.

The main theme of this volume is to transcend over-arching national models and to focus on local coal mining societies which can then be compared and contrasted to similar communities elsewhere. The book tackles many familiar labour history themes in a more nuanced way. It emphasizes the challenges and opportunities available to labour historians.

The main authors of this study were initially interested in writing the text because they believed that historians of British reform movements had devoted insufficient attention to monuments. They regarded this as a weakness in the writing of modern British history.

This volume makes available in English a collection of 12 of Professor Van der Linden's most important essays on the theme of transnational labour history. Previously published in a range of journals and books, this text collects them for all students of European labour history.

Through a detailed examination of the collaborative efforts of Jewish labour in Amsterdam, London and Paris, this work reveals the multi-layered and unique position of Jewish workers in the labour market. It shows how various factors all affected the pace of integration.

Concentrates on social relations in the 1,500 estate villages of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. This book makes use of overlooked autobiographical accounts, statements given by workers at labour exchanges and before military authorities, as well as confiscated letters to provide insight into the perspective of rural workers.

Relating the history of farmworkers who volunteered to fight in World War I for a cause about which they knew little, Nicholas Mansfield attempts to reconcile academic research into aspects of labour history with the patriotism and latent conservatism of many working class families.

Explores the emergence and growth of state responsibility for safer and healthier working practices in British mining and the responses of labour and industry to regulation and control. This title is suitable those with an interest in medical history, occupational health, legal history, and the social history of work in the nineteenth century.

This text makes use of union material and party and government archives, as well as oral testimony, much of it highly confidential, to present an overall account of the evolving nature of the tripartite relationship between the miners, the NUM and the state.

Senior and up-and-coming scholars present the myriad elements that influenced the early development and political identity of the Labour Party, from the party's connections with powerful unions to the impact of socialism, religion, and other political and social movements on the new party.

Considers various elements that influenced the early Labor Party from its formation into the 1930s. This book assesses ways in which the Independent Labor Party, the co-operative movement, liberalism, and the local party branches helped lay the foundations for Labor's growth from a parliamentary pressure group to a party of government.

This work examines the ways in which gender is being used in labour history. Having been a contentious category of historical analysis since the mid 1980s, gender continues to incite much debate. This book seeks a more informed view by discussing the social construction of masculinity.