Biblioteca / 1980-1989
Ivy Pinchbeck. Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 1750-1850.
Londres: Routledge, 1930.
Londres: Frank Cass, 1969.
3ra edición, Londres: Virago, 1981. viii, 252 páginas.
Londres: Taylor & Francis, 2013.
IVY PINCHBECK nació en 1898. Destacada escritora e historiadora, fue también una notable pionera. En 1930, cuando se publicó por primera vez Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, un proyecto histórico de estas características no tenía precedentes: la historia social y la historia de las mujeres tienen una gran deuda con Ivy Pinchbeck. En 1973 escribió Children in English Society (junto con Margaret Hewitt), y a lo largo de su vida contribuyó con numerosos artículos importantes a revistas especializadas, principalmente sobre temas de mujeres y niños en la Revolución Industrial.
Las obreras y la Revolución Industrial es un célebre clásico, nunca antes publicado en rústica. Utilizando literatura contemporánea, registros periodísticos e informes parlamentarios, la autora examina con escrupuloso detalle un siglo de trabajo femenino en la industria, el comercio y la agricultura: sus ocupaciones, salarios, condiciones de trabajo, así como su vida doméstica. Magníficamente escrito, a la vez erudito y conmovedor, el libro da vida a un periodo de revolución social y a sus efectos en la vida familiar de la clase trabajadora, concluyendo que, en general, a pesar de los trastornos y la angustia, la Revolución Industrial fue beneficiosa para la posición social y económica de las mujeres. Un poderoso documento histórico que sigue siendo la obra definitiva sobre un tema importante.
CONTENTS
Introduction
PART
THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
I – Women in Agriculture in the Eighteenth Century
The Productive Work of:
1 – Farmers’ Wives
2 – Dairywomen
3 – Women Servants in Husbandry
4 – Cottagers’ Wives
II – The Agrarian Revolution
Agricultural Progress and Women Experimental Farmers
Social Changes in the Farmhouse
The Boarding of Labourers in the Farm
Reorganisations in Dairy Farming
The Disappearance of the Small Farmer
Social and Economic Conditions of the Labourers
III – The Appearance of Women Day Labourers
Women’s Work and Wages at Harvest Time
Reasons for the Appearance of the new Day Labourers
Attempts to provide Agricultural Work for Distressed Spinners
The Tasks of Women Labourers
War-time Employment
The Extent of Women’s Employment, 1780-1815
The Bondage System
IV – Agricultural Depression and the Poor Law
Agricultural Distress
The Old Poor Law
Unemployment and Parish Occupations for Women
Continued Employment of Women in Agriculture
The Effects of Poor Law Administration on Women’s Employment
Extent of Women’s Employment during the Depression
The Position of Single Women under the Old Poor Law
V – Rural Conditions in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
Effects of the Poor Law Amendment Act on Women’s Employment
The Gang System 86 General Conditions of Employment in 1843
The Proportion of Rural Women Employed in Agriculture in 1843
Earnings of Women Labourers
The Importance of Women’s Earnings in Labourers’ Families
The Effects of Women’s Work on Men’s Wages and Employment
The Suitability of Day Labour for Women
Rural Housing Conditions
The Standard of Domestic Comfort
Education of the Agricultural Classes
The Disappearance of the Woman Day Labourer
PART II
WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AND TRADE
VI – Textile Industries—The Domestic System
The Cotton Industry
The Woollen Industry
VII – Textile Industries—The Spinners
The Wheel and the Distaff
Cotton, Flax and Wool Spinners
The Number of Spinners
Organisation
Spinning Wages
The Transition from Hand to Machine Spinning
VIII – Textile Industries—The Handloom Weavers
Position of Women in the Trade in the Eighteenth Century
Apprenticeship and Entrance to the Trade
The Increasing Proportion of Women Weavers at the end of the Century
Women’s Work in Different Branches of the Trade
Wages of Women Weavers
The Decline of Handloom Weaving
The Effects of Women’s Competition
Working Conditions of Handloom Weavers
IX – Textile Industries—Factory Workers
Sources of the New Factory Population
Occupations of Women in the Factory
The Regulation of Hours
Women’s Factory Wages
Conflicting Criticisms of the Factory System
Contemporary Objections to Women’s Employment
X – The Smaller Domestic Industries
1 – Lace Making
2 – Machine Lace Workers
3 – Straw Plaiting
4 – Glove Making
5 – Hand Knitting
6 – Button Making
The Exploitation of Child Labour
The Conditions of Domestic Workers
XI – Women’s Work in Mines and Metal Trades
Mines: Early Work in Coal Mines}
Metal Trades: Work in Metal Manufactories
XII – Craftswomen and Business Women
Marriage a Business Partnership in the Eighteenth Century
Business Activities of Widows
Milliners, Mantua Makers and Needlewomen
Fan Makers and Hairdressers
Women Goldsmiths
Retail Traders and Caterers
Street and Itinerant Traders
Women in Medicine—Oculists, Surgeons and Dentists
Restriction of Women’s Professional and Business Activities at the end of the Eighteenth Century
Conclusion
Appendix: Occupations of Women in 1841
Bibliography