1st Edition

Limited Livelihoods Gender and Class in Nineteenth Century England

By Sonya O. Rose Copyright 1992

    Integrating analytical tools from feminist theory, cultural studies and sociology to illuminate detailed historical evidence, Sonya Rose argues that gender was a central organizing principle of the nineteenth-century industrial transformation in England. She elaborates a cultural theory of gender that suggests why it is an inherent aspect of all social and economic relations. Analysing employer strategies and state policies and the role of work in family life, she demonstrates that neither industrial transformation nor class relations can be understood when reduced to gender-neutral and abstract forces.

    Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 “Maintaining the Industrial Supremacy of the Country”; Chapter 3 “We Never Sought Protection for the Men Nor Do We Now”; Chapter 4 “To Do the Best You Can”; Chapter 5 “Mary Had a Little Loom”; Chapter 6 “Manliness, Virtue, and Self-Respect”; Chapter 7 “Brothers and Sisters in Distress”; Chapter 8 Conclusions and Afterthoughts;

    Biography

    Sonya O. Rose

    `The strength of Rose's book lies in its stimulaitng discussion of gender as a historical force in the industrial development of 19th century England. ... this is a timely book.' - Fiona Terry Chandler Midland History