England's great transformation : law, labor, and the Industrial Revolution / Marc W. Steinberg.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Steinberg, Marc W. (Marc William), 1956- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Industrial relations--England--History--19th century.
• Industrial relations--England--Case studies.
• Labor laws and legislation--England--History--19th century.
• Industrial revolution--England.
• Industrial relations.
• Industrial revolution.
• Labor laws and legislation.
• History.
• England.

Genre:

• Case studies.
• History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 233 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2016.

Summary:

With England's Great Transformation, Marc W. Steinberg throws a wrench into the conventional wisdom that in the nineteenth century, England quickly moved toward a modern labor market where workers were free to shift from employer to employer in response to market signals. Expanding on recent historical research, Steinberg finds to the contrary that labor contracts, centered on insidious master-servant laws, allowed employers and legal institutions to work in tandem to keep employees in line. Building his argument on three case studies-the Hanky pottery industry, Hull fisheries, and Redditch needlemakers-Steinberg employs both local and national analyses to emphasize the ways in which these master-servant laws allowed employers to use the criminal prosecution of workers to maintain control of their labor force. He provides a fresh perspective on the dynamics of labor control and class power, integrating the complex pathways of Marxism, historical institutionalism, and feminism, and giving readers a subtle yet revelatory new understanding of workplace control and power during England's Industrial Revolution. Book jacket.

Contents:

• Introduction. The labor process and beyond ; Law, institutions, and labor control: theory and history
• Introduction to the case studies. Hanley and the pottery industry ; Hull and the fishing trade ; Redditch, commercial agriculture, needle manufacturing, and small-town justice
• Retelling the great transformation
• Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

• 9780226329819
• 022632981X
• 9780226329956
• 022632995X

OCLC:

913116973