Karen Harvey
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199533848
- eISBN:
- 9780191740978
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533848.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
This chapter examines the domestic objects and spaces that were meaningful for men and explores how men's domestic engagement and domestic authority was legitimized by the material culture of the ...
More
This chapter examines the domestic objects and spaces that were meaningful for men and explores how men's domestic engagement and domestic authority was legitimized by the material culture of the house. In ‘keeping house’, men managed goods and people over which they exercised proprietorship, even if legally they did not own them. In doing so, the chapter shows, men rooted themselves and their authority in the physical body of the house. Men engaged with objects as property, inheritance, symbols, makers of memory and relationships, as well as commodities. They consumed low‐value and mundane items alongside larger and intermittent purchases, and the possession and management of these domestic objects created and maintained authority. In their careful management of property and personal investment in meaningful domestic things, the chapter argues, men of the middling‐sorts grounded their identities in the material culture of their domestic lives.Less
This chapter examines the domestic objects and spaces that were meaningful for men and explores how men's domestic engagement and domestic authority was legitimized by the material culture of the house. In ‘keeping house’, men managed goods and people over which they exercised proprietorship, even if legally they did not own them. In doing so, the chapter shows, men rooted themselves and their authority in the physical body of the house. Men engaged with objects as property, inheritance, symbols, makers of memory and relationships, as well as commodities. They consumed low‐value and mundane items alongside larger and intermittent purchases, and the possession and management of these domestic objects created and maintained authority. In their careful management of property and personal investment in meaningful domestic things, the chapter argues, men of the middling‐sorts grounded their identities in the material culture of their domestic lives.
Rossitza Guentcheva
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199827657
- eISBN:
- 9780199950461
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827657.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Cultural History
The commodities produced and sold in the socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe were notorious for their low quality, inferiority and poor standards. Blaming the command economy, scholars ...
More
The commodities produced and sold in the socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe were notorious for their low quality, inferiority and poor standards. Blaming the command economy, scholars have singled out the poor quality of these products as emblematic of the inferiority of socialist regimes in comparison to western capitalist economies. In contrast, Rossitza Guentcheva’s chapter examines the persistent concerns of Bulgarian socialist officials with the quality of goods produced and offered to the population in the 1960s-1980s. A variety of institutions—such as the Center for New Assortments of Goods and Fashion, and Center for Industrial Aesthetics—tracked, discussed, and attempted to remedy quality issues, enlisting the help of experts on all levels of design, production, trade, and consumption. During these debates, an innovative and highly original—“architectonic”—vision of quality emerged, which focused neither on the intrinsic features of the object nor on the customer’s actual taste. Analyzing the complicated negotiations about the very nature of quality, Guentcheva reveals how state and society were inseparably intertwined—thus avoiding the ascribed opposition between a leadership coining the party line and the people implementing it into practice.Less
The commodities produced and sold in the socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe were notorious for their low quality, inferiority and poor standards. Blaming the command economy, scholars have singled out the poor quality of these products as emblematic of the inferiority of socialist regimes in comparison to western capitalist economies. In contrast, Rossitza Guentcheva’s chapter examines the persistent concerns of Bulgarian socialist officials with the quality of goods produced and offered to the population in the 1960s-1980s. A variety of institutions—such as the Center for New Assortments of Goods and Fashion, and Center for Industrial Aesthetics—tracked, discussed, and attempted to remedy quality issues, enlisting the help of experts on all levels of design, production, trade, and consumption. During these debates, an innovative and highly original—“architectonic”—vision of quality emerged, which focused neither on the intrinsic features of the object nor on the customer’s actual taste. Analyzing the complicated negotiations about the very nature of quality, Guentcheva reveals how state and society were inseparably intertwined—thus avoiding the ascribed opposition between a leadership coining the party line and the people implementing it into practice.
The Nation
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814757437
- eISBN:
- 9780814763469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814757437.003.0021
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter extols both the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union for their innovations in the areas of education, social welfare, racial ...
More
This chapter extols both the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union for their innovations in the areas of education, social welfare, racial integration, and industrial relations. These two unions are praised for their creative efforts in facing the problems plaguing so many other unions during the 1920s—the suppression of conventional tactics which did not evolve or expand in scope along with changing business and labor practices. Likewise, other unions simply did not aim beyond their own workplaces, whereas the ILGWU broadened their conception to the actual organization of the whole industry, so that no one should be able to take advantage of sub-standard labor conditions. Furthermore, these unions were praised for maintaining their Jewish socialist ideals all throughout their campaigns for change.Less
This chapter extols both the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union for their innovations in the areas of education, social welfare, racial integration, and industrial relations. These two unions are praised for their creative efforts in facing the problems plaguing so many other unions during the 1920s—the suppression of conventional tactics which did not evolve or expand in scope along with changing business and labor practices. Likewise, other unions simply did not aim beyond their own workplaces, whereas the ILGWU broadened their conception to the actual organization of the whole industry, so that no one should be able to take advantage of sub-standard labor conditions. Furthermore, these unions were praised for maintaining their Jewish socialist ideals all throughout their campaigns for change.
Jennie Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814757437
- eISBN:
- 9780814763469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814757437.003.0025
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter shows that corruption can plague even the progressive, well-managed unions. It presents a letter of protest by Jennie Cohen, a former member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of ...
More
This chapter shows that corruption can plague even the progressive, well-managed unions. It presents a letter of protest by Jennie Cohen, a former member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. In it, Cohen describes how preventing a breach of union regulations had made her the target of bullying and harassment from her fellow union members under the directions of the union agent who was heavily implied to have been the mastermind of the regulations breach. In addition, another person had come forward to sign an affidavit, accusing this agent and another union official of graft and extortion. Cohen, thus implicated in this scandal, is soon relieved of her job, prompting the publication of this exposé into the union's illicit activities.Less
This chapter shows that corruption can plague even the progressive, well-managed unions. It presents a letter of protest by Jennie Cohen, a former member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. In it, Cohen describes how preventing a breach of union regulations had made her the target of bullying and harassment from her fellow union members under the directions of the union agent who was heavily implied to have been the mastermind of the regulations breach. In addition, another person had come forward to sign an affidavit, accusing this agent and another union official of graft and extortion. Cohen, thus implicated in this scandal, is soon relieved of her job, prompting the publication of this exposé into the union's illicit activities.
Rachel Lee Rubin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814771389
- eISBN:
- 9780814738108
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814771389.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter examines the disdain for the Renaissance faire and how the faire has been linked to what sociologist Stanley Cohen termed “moral panics.” Residents of areas adjoining Renaissance faire ...
More
This chapter examines the disdain for the Renaissance faire and how the faire has been linked to what sociologist Stanley Cohen termed “moral panics.” Residents of areas adjoining Renaissance faire sites mostly either love the faire (citing the jobs, attention, and business it brings to the area) or hate it (for the traffic and noise). Since the faire's earliest years in Southern California, there have also been people who expressed strong opposition to the faire on the grounds of taste or fashion, so that ridiculing Renaissance faires very quickly became—and remains—itself a recognizable cultural trope. This chapter focuses on those who “hate” the Renaissance faire within the context of the faire's story and how the dominant culture challenged the counterculture, subculture, oppositional culture, and alternative culture associated with the faire. It also considers how critics have associated Renaissance faire clothing with homosexuality as well as the anxiety about what the faire does “to” gender expression and by extension gender roles.Less
This chapter examines the disdain for the Renaissance faire and how the faire has been linked to what sociologist Stanley Cohen termed “moral panics.” Residents of areas adjoining Renaissance faire sites mostly either love the faire (citing the jobs, attention, and business it brings to the area) or hate it (for the traffic and noise). Since the faire's earliest years in Southern California, there have also been people who expressed strong opposition to the faire on the grounds of taste or fashion, so that ridiculing Renaissance faires very quickly became—and remains—itself a recognizable cultural trope. This chapter focuses on those who “hate” the Renaissance faire within the context of the faire's story and how the dominant culture challenged the counterculture, subculture, oppositional culture, and alternative culture associated with the faire. It also considers how critics have associated Renaissance faire clothing with homosexuality as well as the anxiety about what the faire does “to” gender expression and by extension gender roles.
Nicola Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198784814
- eISBN:
- 9780191827112
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198784814.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Cultural History
For elites, material culture told their dynastic story and was also used to construct, or re-construct, it. Women’s place in this remains complex. They were much more likely to own and control ...
More
For elites, material culture told their dynastic story and was also used to construct, or re-construct, it. Women’s place in this remains complex. They were much more likely to own and control objects like jewels, clothes, and furniture than they were land or property. They were also involved in the production, design, and purchase of these objects, and there are definably female patterns of exchange throughout society. However, the use of material culture is often considered as a collective enterprise within families like the Howards. Though many scholars maintain that a woman’s primary role was to support their husband’s family, material evidence for the Howards shows that they were able to use objects to transmit their complex accumulation of familial identities. In doing so, they also used material culture to enhance their social standing, to secure political alliance, and to cement ties of familial affection and friendship, thereby revealing an intense level of direct agency.Less
For elites, material culture told their dynastic story and was also used to construct, or re-construct, it. Women’s place in this remains complex. They were much more likely to own and control objects like jewels, clothes, and furniture than they were land or property. They were also involved in the production, design, and purchase of these objects, and there are definably female patterns of exchange throughout society. However, the use of material culture is often considered as a collective enterprise within families like the Howards. Though many scholars maintain that a woman’s primary role was to support their husband’s family, material evidence for the Howards shows that they were able to use objects to transmit their complex accumulation of familial identities. In doing so, they also used material culture to enhance their social standing, to secure political alliance, and to cement ties of familial affection and friendship, thereby revealing an intense level of direct agency.
Nancy E. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190645236
- eISBN:
- 9780190937270
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190645236.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century, Cultural History
The introduction provides the early history of the American China trade by recounting China trader Captain John O’Donnell’s landing with Chinese seamen in Baltimore in 1785 and a newspaper welcome ...
More
The introduction provides the early history of the American China trade by recounting China trader Captain John O’Donnell’s landing with Chinese seamen in Baltimore in 1785 and a newspaper welcome that asserted: “Commerce binds and unites all Nations of the Globe with a golden chain.” Nearly a half-century later, in 1834, a young Chinese woman, Afong Moy, arrived in America, having been coerced to participate in this golden chain of global commerce. As the first Chinese woman to travel the country, her exotic appearance and bound feet elicited commentary in newspapers, diaries, poems, and letters. Unwittingly, she served as the first cultural bridge in the American public’s perceptions of China through the staged presentation of objects, clothing, and images—and herself.Less
The introduction provides the early history of the American China trade by recounting China trader Captain John O’Donnell’s landing with Chinese seamen in Baltimore in 1785 and a newspaper welcome that asserted: “Commerce binds and unites all Nations of the Globe with a golden chain.” Nearly a half-century later, in 1834, a young Chinese woman, Afong Moy, arrived in America, having been coerced to participate in this golden chain of global commerce. As the first Chinese woman to travel the country, her exotic appearance and bound feet elicited commentary in newspapers, diaries, poems, and letters. Unwittingly, she served as the first cultural bridge in the American public’s perceptions of China through the staged presentation of objects, clothing, and images—and herself.
