Nancy Woloch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691002590
- eISBN:
- 9781400866366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691002590.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter traces the changes in federal and state protective policies from the New Deal through the 1950s. In contrast to the setbacks of the 1920s, the New Deal revived the prospects of ...
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This chapter traces the changes in federal and state protective policies from the New Deal through the 1950s. In contrast to the setbacks of the 1920s, the New Deal revived the prospects of protective laws and of their proponents. The victory of the minimum wage for women workers in federal court in 1937 and the passage in 1938 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which extended labor standards to men, represented a peak of protectionist achievement. This achievement rested firmly on the precedent of single-sex labor laws for which social feminists—led by the NCL—had long campaigned. However, “equal rights” gained momentum in the postwar years, 1945–60. By the start of the 1960s, single-sex protective laws had resumed their role as a focus of contention in the women's movement.Less
This chapter traces the changes in federal and state protective policies from the New Deal through the 1950s. In contrast to the setbacks of the 1920s, the New Deal revived the prospects of protective laws and of their proponents. The victory of the minimum wage for women workers in federal court in 1937 and the passage in 1938 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which extended labor standards to men, represented a peak of protectionist achievement. This achievement rested firmly on the precedent of single-sex labor laws for which social feminists—led by the NCL—had long campaigned. However, “equal rights” gained momentum in the postwar years, 1945–60. By the start of the 1960s, single-sex protective laws had resumed their role as a focus of contention in the women's movement.
Eleanor Gordon
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201434
- eISBN:
- 9780191674884
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201434.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This chapter concludes that the history of women's employment in Scotland from 1850 until the First World War is a strong confirmation of the view that women's subordinate position in the labour ...
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This chapter concludes that the history of women's employment in Scotland from 1850 until the First World War is a strong confirmation of the view that women's subordinate position in the labour market was linked to prevailing ideologies of gender and domesticity. The experience of women workers in this period illustrates that the problems that women faced in the labour market derived from the wider sexual division of labour in society, and that, if trade unions were to represent their interests adequately, the structures and practices of trade unionism would have had to recognize and challenge these divisions rather than reflect them. The book has emphasized the need for a broader consideration of the social formation to conceptualize the position of women in the world of work.Less
This chapter concludes that the history of women's employment in Scotland from 1850 until the First World War is a strong confirmation of the view that women's subordinate position in the labour market was linked to prevailing ideologies of gender and domesticity. The experience of women workers in this period illustrates that the problems that women faced in the labour market derived from the wider sexual division of labour in society, and that, if trade unions were to represent their interests adequately, the structures and practices of trade unionism would have had to recognize and challenge these divisions rather than reflect them. The book has emphasized the need for a broader consideration of the social formation to conceptualize the position of women in the world of work.
Jacqui True
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264911
- eISBN:
- 9780191754098
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264911.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The chapter examines the question of whether there is a relationship between women's poor access to productive resources such as land, property, income, employment, technology, credit, and education, ...
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The chapter examines the question of whether there is a relationship between women's poor access to productive resources such as land, property, income, employment, technology, credit, and education, and their likelihood of experiencing gender-based violence and abuse. It begins with a discussion of the feminist political economy method, which seeks to comprehend broader, global political-economic structures that underpin gender inequality and women's vulnerability to violence. It then illustrates with specific examples how the feminist political economy method might be used to analyse violence against women in four strategic sites: (i) neo-liberal economic restructuring and men's reaction to the loss of secure employment; (ii) economic destabilisation and transition; (iii) the growth of a sex trade around the creation of free trade zones; and (iv) the transnational migration of women workers.Less
The chapter examines the question of whether there is a relationship between women's poor access to productive resources such as land, property, income, employment, technology, credit, and education, and their likelihood of experiencing gender-based violence and abuse. It begins with a discussion of the feminist political economy method, which seeks to comprehend broader, global political-economic structures that underpin gender inequality and women's vulnerability to violence. It then illustrates with specific examples how the feminist political economy method might be used to analyse violence against women in four strategic sites: (i) neo-liberal economic restructuring and men's reaction to the loss of secure employment; (ii) economic destabilisation and transition; (iii) the growth of a sex trade around the creation of free trade zones; and (iv) the transnational migration of women workers.
Nancy Woloch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691002590
- eISBN:
- 9781400866366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691002590.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter examines Muller's aftermath in legal history through the landmark case of Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923). In Oregon, an employer (Children's Hospital) sought an injunction against ...
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This chapter examines Muller's aftermath in legal history through the landmark case of Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923). In Oregon, an employer (Children's Hospital) sought an injunction against the DC Minimum Wage Board to restrain it from imposing the minimum wage of $16.50 per week for women workers in hotels, hospitals, restaurants, clubs, and apartment houses. The District of Columbia Supreme Court upheld the law in June 1920, as did the DC Court of Appeals in June 1921. However, at the second hearing in November 1922, the DC Court of Appeals upset the law. In 1923, when Adkins v. Children's Hospital reached the Supreme Court, defenders of the minimum wage faced a less receptive roster of justices than they had in 1917; recent appointments made in wartime and soon after had produced a more conservative court. As such, the Supreme Court failed to sustain the District of Columbia minimum wage law by a 5–3 decision.Less
This chapter examines Muller's aftermath in legal history through the landmark case of Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923). In Oregon, an employer (Children's Hospital) sought an injunction against the DC Minimum Wage Board to restrain it from imposing the minimum wage of $16.50 per week for women workers in hotels, hospitals, restaurants, clubs, and apartment houses. The District of Columbia Supreme Court upheld the law in June 1920, as did the DC Court of Appeals in June 1921. However, at the second hearing in November 1922, the DC Court of Appeals upset the law. In 1923, when Adkins v. Children's Hospital reached the Supreme Court, defenders of the minimum wage faced a less receptive roster of justices than they had in 1917; recent appointments made in wartime and soon after had produced a more conservative court. As such, the Supreme Court failed to sustain the District of Columbia minimum wage law by a 5–3 decision.
Eleanor Gordon
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201434
- eISBN:
- 9780191674884
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201434.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
Trade unions and women workers grew in numbers between 1890 and 1914. However, the majority of women workers remained outside the ranks of the trade union movement. Despite many other problems of ...
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Trade unions and women workers grew in numbers between 1890 and 1914. However, the majority of women workers remained outside the ranks of the trade union movement. Despite many other problems of trade union organization of women between 1890 and the First World War, one enduring feature was the continued existence of the Women's Protection and Provident League (WPPL). The WPPL was the organizational residue of the years of heightened industrial conflict and trade union growth. The primary function of the WPPL was to encourage the trade union organization of women. However, the composition of the WPPL made its philosophy governed more by philanthropic concerns than by aggressive trade unionism.Less
Trade unions and women workers grew in numbers between 1890 and 1914. However, the majority of women workers remained outside the ranks of the trade union movement. Despite many other problems of trade union organization of women between 1890 and the First World War, one enduring feature was the continued existence of the Women's Protection and Provident League (WPPL). The WPPL was the organizational residue of the years of heightened industrial conflict and trade union growth. The primary function of the WPPL was to encourage the trade union organization of women. However, the composition of the WPPL made its philosophy governed more by philanthropic concerns than by aggressive trade unionism.
Nancy Woloch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691002590
- eISBN:
- 9781400866366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691002590.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter revisits Adkins and considers the feud over protective laws that arose in the women's movement in the 1920s. The clash between friends and foes of the Equal Rights Amendment—and over the ...
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This chapter revisits Adkins and considers the feud over protective laws that arose in the women's movement in the 1920s. The clash between friends and foes of the Equal Rights Amendment—and over the protective laws for women workers that it would surely invalidate—fueled women's politics in the 1920s. Both sides claimed precedent-setting accomplishments. In 1923, the National Woman's Party proposed the historic ERA, which incurred conflict that lasted for decades. The social feminist contingent—larger and more powerful—gained favor briefly among congressional lawmakers, expanded the number and strength of state laws, saw the minimum wage gain a foothold, and promoted protection through the federal Women's Bureau. Neither faction, however, achieved the advances it sought. Instead, a fight between factions underscored competing contentions about single-sex protective laws and their effect on women workers.Less
This chapter revisits Adkins and considers the feud over protective laws that arose in the women's movement in the 1920s. The clash between friends and foes of the Equal Rights Amendment—and over the protective laws for women workers that it would surely invalidate—fueled women's politics in the 1920s. Both sides claimed precedent-setting accomplishments. In 1923, the National Woman's Party proposed the historic ERA, which incurred conflict that lasted for decades. The social feminist contingent—larger and more powerful—gained favor briefly among congressional lawmakers, expanded the number and strength of state laws, saw the minimum wage gain a foothold, and promoted protection through the federal Women's Bureau. Neither faction, however, achieved the advances it sought. Instead, a fight between factions underscored competing contentions about single-sex protective laws and their effect on women workers.
Sylvia Jenkins Cook
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195327809
- eISBN:
- 9780199870547
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327809.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
This chapter explores in detail one of the most striking literary products of a 19th century factory woman, Lucy Larcom's 1875 epic poem, An Idyl of Work. A rare genre among women's writing, and ...
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This chapter explores in detail one of the most striking literary products of a 19th century factory woman, Lucy Larcom's 1875 epic poem, An Idyl of Work. A rare genre among women's writing, and virtually unique among working-class women's writing, this long poem depicts early American factory women as the emblematic voices and models of a democratic republic of body and mind. Larcom's poetic workers are also thinkers and writers, women whose active literary engagement enables them to form a transcendent link between the physical and spiritual realms of their existence. Although she readily concedes in her Preface to the poem that the actual conditions in factories have deteriorated seriously since the earlier generation she depicts, Larcom's female operatives nonetheless represent an ideal of work, community, and thought that was to endure far beyond the unique circumstances where it took form.Less
This chapter explores in detail one of the most striking literary products of a 19th century factory woman, Lucy Larcom's 1875 epic poem, An Idyl of Work. A rare genre among women's writing, and virtually unique among working-class women's writing, this long poem depicts early American factory women as the emblematic voices and models of a democratic republic of body and mind. Larcom's poetic workers are also thinkers and writers, women whose active literary engagement enables them to form a transcendent link between the physical and spiritual realms of their existence. Although she readily concedes in her Preface to the poem that the actual conditions in factories have deteriorated seriously since the earlier generation she depicts, Larcom's female operatives nonetheless represent an ideal of work, community, and thought that was to endure far beyond the unique circumstances where it took form.
Nancy Woloch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691002590
- eISBN:
- 9781400866366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691002590.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter assesses Muller v. Oregon (1908), its significance, and the law it upheld: Oregon's ten-hour law of 1903. Convicted of violating Oregon's law of 1903 that barred the employment of women ...
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This chapter assesses Muller v. Oregon (1908), its significance, and the law it upheld: Oregon's ten-hour law of 1903. Convicted of violating Oregon's law of 1903 that barred the employment of women in factories and laundries for more than ten hours a day, Curt Muller—the owner of a Portland laundry—challenged the constitutionality of the law, which he claimed violated his right of freedom to contract under the due process of the Fourteenth Amendment. On February 24, 1908, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Oregon law. This decision marked a momentous triumph for progressive reformers and a turning point in the movement for protective laws. At the same time, by declaring woman “in a class by herself,” the Supreme Court embedded in constitutional law an axiom of female difference. The Muller decision thus pushed public policy forward toward modern labor standards and simultaneously distanced it from sexual equality.Less
This chapter assesses Muller v. Oregon (1908), its significance, and the law it upheld: Oregon's ten-hour law of 1903. Convicted of violating Oregon's law of 1903 that barred the employment of women in factories and laundries for more than ten hours a day, Curt Muller—the owner of a Portland laundry—challenged the constitutionality of the law, which he claimed violated his right of freedom to contract under the due process of the Fourteenth Amendment. On February 24, 1908, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Oregon law. This decision marked a momentous triumph for progressive reformers and a turning point in the movement for protective laws. At the same time, by declaring woman “in a class by herself,” the Supreme Court embedded in constitutional law an axiom of female difference. The Muller decision thus pushed public policy forward toward modern labor standards and simultaneously distanced it from sexual equality.
Guy Standing
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198290230
- eISBN:
- 9780191684807
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198290230.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Because of the existence of divisions that are brought about by religious, demographic, and ethnic differences, some groups are subject to labour-force stratification and are thus being assigned to ...
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Because of the existence of divisions that are brought about by religious, demographic, and ethnic differences, some groups are subject to labour-force stratification and are thus being assigned to jobs of both low status and low payment that provide little potential for development. Reducing incidences of stratification is therefore a goal of every society since such brings about adverse effects and veers away from principles of equity. In coming up with the appropriate policies to address such problems, however, it is important not just to consider socio-cultural roots and segregation since identifying the main points of discrimination is important as well. Discriminatory hindrances are faced by women workers at various phases of their lives. Through exploring the results from the Philippines Labour Flexibility Survey and the Malaysian Labour Flexibility Survey, this chapter attempts to provide a comparative analysis about the situations faced by women workers in industrial employment in the Philippines and in Malaysia.Less
Because of the existence of divisions that are brought about by religious, demographic, and ethnic differences, some groups are subject to labour-force stratification and are thus being assigned to jobs of both low status and low payment that provide little potential for development. Reducing incidences of stratification is therefore a goal of every society since such brings about adverse effects and veers away from principles of equity. In coming up with the appropriate policies to address such problems, however, it is important not just to consider socio-cultural roots and segregation since identifying the main points of discrimination is important as well. Discriminatory hindrances are faced by women workers at various phases of their lives. Through exploring the results from the Philippines Labour Flexibility Survey and the Malaysian Labour Flexibility Survey, this chapter attempts to provide a comparative analysis about the situations faced by women workers in industrial employment in the Philippines and in Malaysia.
Helen F. Siu (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622099692
- eISBN:
- 9789882207189
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099692.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter tells the stories of women workers in Hong Kong during the period between the 1960s and the 1990s. These three decades witnessed the growth of a vibrant economy fuelled by rapid ...
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This chapter tells the stories of women workers in Hong Kong during the period between the 1960s and the 1990s. These three decades witnessed the growth of a vibrant economy fuelled by rapid industrialization, which peaked in the 1970s and 1980s. It argues that the stories of these women workers illuminate the role played by the invisible yet pervasive patriarchal gender substructure in the capitalistic development in Hong Kong, which, in turn, forms part of the growth of the global capitalist economy.Less
This chapter tells the stories of women workers in Hong Kong during the period between the 1960s and the 1990s. These three decades witnessed the growth of a vibrant economy fuelled by rapid industrialization, which peaked in the 1970s and 1980s. It argues that the stories of these women workers illuminate the role played by the invisible yet pervasive patriarchal gender substructure in the capitalistic development in Hong Kong, which, in turn, forms part of the growth of the global capitalist economy.
Julia Bush
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199248773
- eISBN:
- 9780191714689
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248773.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Women's wider social duty was understood by most female anti-suffragists to be a benign extension of their maternal role, though it must not be allowed to overshadow home life. The lives of the five ...
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Women's wider social duty was understood by most female anti-suffragists to be a benign extension of their maternal role, though it must not be allowed to overshadow home life. The lives of the five women discussed in Chapter 2 are followed through in relation to their social activism at the end of the 19th century. Individual social action gradually led to a deepening involvement in collective work for philanthropic and religious causes. The National Union of Women Workers was the largest ‘umbrella’ organization for womanly social service from the 1890s onwards, and an important meeting ground for suffragists and anti-suffragists until an acrimonious split within its Council in 1912-13. The major Anglican women's organizations — the Girls' Friendly Society and the Mothers' Union — were more successful in maintaining an apolitical stance at the height of the suffrage campaign, whilst at the same time subtly reinforcing the gender conservatism which underpinned female anti-suffragism.Less
Women's wider social duty was understood by most female anti-suffragists to be a benign extension of their maternal role, though it must not be allowed to overshadow home life. The lives of the five women discussed in Chapter 2 are followed through in relation to their social activism at the end of the 19th century. Individual social action gradually led to a deepening involvement in collective work for philanthropic and religious causes. The National Union of Women Workers was the largest ‘umbrella’ organization for womanly social service from the 1890s onwards, and an important meeting ground for suffragists and anti-suffragists until an acrimonious split within its Council in 1912-13. The major Anglican women's organizations — the Girls' Friendly Society and the Mothers' Union — were more successful in maintaining an apolitical stance at the height of the suffrage campaign, whilst at the same time subtly reinforcing the gender conservatism which underpinned female anti-suffragism.
Sylvia Jenkins Cook
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195327809
- eISBN:
- 9780199870547
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327809.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
This chapter takes up fiction of a very different kind from the ambitious efforts of Judd, Hawthorne, and Melville to develop a genre suitable to an altered sense of contemporary reality. It looks at ...
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This chapter takes up fiction of a very different kind from the ambitious efforts of Judd, Hawthorne, and Melville to develop a genre suitable to an altered sense of contemporary reality. It looks at approximately a dozen “factory” novels that were written in mid-century, in rapid reaction to the experiences of working women in Lowell and similar New England industrial settings. These novels display a range of popular fictional modes, from didactic Sunday school tracts to murder mysteries and sensational seduction stories. They also align themselves with diverse ideological and political responses to the benefits of factory labor for women. Most remarkably, however, and without exception, they all focus on the literacy of factory women, on their enthusiasm for reading and lecture-going, and on their dedication to writing. This literariness emerges in these novels as a multivalent symbol for the incongruity of the new working woman's identity, whether as the assertive proclaimer of her own newfound subjectivity or as the dupe of cheap novels and romantic fantasies.Less
This chapter takes up fiction of a very different kind from the ambitious efforts of Judd, Hawthorne, and Melville to develop a genre suitable to an altered sense of contemporary reality. It looks at approximately a dozen “factory” novels that were written in mid-century, in rapid reaction to the experiences of working women in Lowell and similar New England industrial settings. These novels display a range of popular fictional modes, from didactic Sunday school tracts to murder mysteries and sensational seduction stories. They also align themselves with diverse ideological and political responses to the benefits of factory labor for women. Most remarkably, however, and without exception, they all focus on the literacy of factory women, on their enthusiasm for reading and lecture-going, and on their dedication to writing. This literariness emerges in these novels as a multivalent symbol for the incongruity of the new working woman's identity, whether as the assertive proclaimer of her own newfound subjectivity or as the dupe of cheap novels and romantic fantasies.
Nancy Woloch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691002590
- eISBN:
- 9781400866366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691002590.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter discusses how the courts shaped protective policy from the 1890s to 1907. During this period, state and federal courts began a legal conversation about state protective laws. In court, ...
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This chapter discusses how the courts shaped protective policy from the 1890s to 1907. During this period, state and federal courts began a legal conversation about state protective laws. In court, challengers relied on the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; they embraced freedom of contract and also cited the amendment's equal protection clause. Meanwhile, defenders gave wide latitude to the police power, the state's power to protect the health and welfare of its citizens. Throughout the era, the legal system imposed a discussion of gender. In cases that involved women workers, decisions that upset protective laws defended equal status for women. On the other hand, decision that upheld single-sex laws explored the role of sexual difference, mentioned women's reproductive capacity, and linked hours limits to the good of posterity and the welfare of society. Thereafter, judicial opinion steered states' attorneys—and the reformers who backed protective labor laws—into gender-based strategies.Less
This chapter discusses how the courts shaped protective policy from the 1890s to 1907. During this period, state and federal courts began a legal conversation about state protective laws. In court, challengers relied on the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; they embraced freedom of contract and also cited the amendment's equal protection clause. Meanwhile, defenders gave wide latitude to the police power, the state's power to protect the health and welfare of its citizens. Throughout the era, the legal system imposed a discussion of gender. In cases that involved women workers, decisions that upset protective laws defended equal status for women. On the other hand, decision that upheld single-sex laws explored the role of sexual difference, mentioned women's reproductive capacity, and linked hours limits to the good of posterity and the welfare of society. Thereafter, judicial opinion steered states' attorneys—and the reformers who backed protective labor laws—into gender-based strategies.
Nancy Woloch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691002590
- eISBN:
- 9781400866366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691002590.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This concluding chapter examines the nature of protective law, the crucial historical issue of overtime, and public policy after the dismantling of women-only protective laws. Over the course of a ...
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This concluding chapter examines the nature of protective law, the crucial historical issue of overtime, and public policy after the dismantling of women-only protective laws. Over the course of a century, protective laws for women workers left a double imprint on U.S. history. The laws set precedents that led to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and to modern labor law; they also sustained classification by sex, a tradition of gendered law that abridged citizenship, impeded equality, and endured until late in the century. One variable facet of the protective agenda was the interplay between women-only protective laws and “general” wage-and-hours law that affected men. The long history of overtime, its role in shaping gendered law, and its ramifications over time suggests both the unstable nature of protective law and the unpredictability of its consequences.Less
This concluding chapter examines the nature of protective law, the crucial historical issue of overtime, and public policy after the dismantling of women-only protective laws. Over the course of a century, protective laws for women workers left a double imprint on U.S. history. The laws set precedents that led to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and to modern labor law; they also sustained classification by sex, a tradition of gendered law that abridged citizenship, impeded equality, and endured until late in the century. One variable facet of the protective agenda was the interplay between women-only protective laws and “general” wage-and-hours law that affected men. The long history of overtime, its role in shaping gendered law, and its ramifications over time suggests both the unstable nature of protective law and the unpredictability of its consequences.
Christina L. Baade
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195372014
- eISBN:
- 9780199918287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372014.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
Chapter 3 examines Music While You Work (MWYW), created by the BBC in response to the production drives spurred by the retreat at Dunkirk in June 1940. The half-hour program united ideologies of ...
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Chapter 3 examines Music While You Work (MWYW), created by the BBC in response to the production drives spurred by the retreat at Dunkirk in June 1940. The half-hour program united ideologies of music as a force for cultural uplift with research in industrial efficiency in service of the war effort. As the program developed, it reflected concerns with the new female workforce, for the apathetic and unruly bodies of conscripted women workers threatened to slow production, detract from the nation's war effort, and even undermine “the health of all democracy.” Prized for its tonic qualities, MWYW was a powerful tool for factory discipline. Producers harnessed popular and light music, not according to entertainment or artistic values but for their effect on production, audibility, and impact on worker morale. Nevertheless, the program also evoked practices of dancing and background listening, which had become mass leisure activities during the preceding decades.Less
Chapter 3 examines Music While You Work (MWYW), created by the BBC in response to the production drives spurred by the retreat at Dunkirk in June 1940. The half-hour program united ideologies of music as a force for cultural uplift with research in industrial efficiency in service of the war effort. As the program developed, it reflected concerns with the new female workforce, for the apathetic and unruly bodies of conscripted women workers threatened to slow production, detract from the nation's war effort, and even undermine “the health of all democracy.” Prized for its tonic qualities, MWYW was a powerful tool for factory discipline. Producers harnessed popular and light music, not according to entertainment or artistic values but for their effect on production, audibility, and impact on worker morale. Nevertheless, the program also evoked practices of dancing and background listening, which had become mass leisure activities during the preceding decades.
Eleanor Gordon
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201434
- eISBN:
- 9780191674884
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201434.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Social History
This chapter, through a detailed analysis of Dundee women jute workers, presents the ways in which women were controlled and the particular circumstances and ways in which they resisted this control ...
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This chapter, through a detailed analysis of Dundee women jute workers, presents the ways in which women were controlled and the particular circumstances and ways in which they resisted this control in the workplace. Women workers in Dundee formed over 43% of the total labour force. The lack of assertiveness among the women workers of the Dundee jute factories is often explained by reference to the more passive nature of women and their lack of interest in matters unrelated to the domestic sphere. This analysis, however, fails to take account of the objective constraints on any attempts to improve wages or conditions. The jute trade was also threatened by Indian competition.Less
This chapter, through a detailed analysis of Dundee women jute workers, presents the ways in which women were controlled and the particular circumstances and ways in which they resisted this control in the workplace. Women workers in Dundee formed over 43% of the total labour force. The lack of assertiveness among the women workers of the Dundee jute factories is often explained by reference to the more passive nature of women and their lack of interest in matters unrelated to the domestic sphere. This analysis, however, fails to take account of the objective constraints on any attempts to improve wages or conditions. The jute trade was also threatened by Indian competition.
Theodore Jun Yoo
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520252882
- eISBN:
- 9780520934153
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520252882.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter focuses on labor unrest among Korean women workers and the public debate among Korean reformers and the Japanese state about how to reassert control over this unruly group. It highlights ...
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This chapter focuses on labor unrest among Korean women workers and the public debate among Korean reformers and the Japanese state about how to reassert control over this unruly group. It highlights the paradoxical image of the female worker as at once a helpless victim of economic oppression and an assertive activist. Her image as victim rendered her less threatening (i.e., as a ward of the state or of bourgeois philanthropy) while her activism raised the specter of social disruption and violence. As the economic crisis of the Japanese empire intensified in the 1930s, concessions to Korean female workers declined, leading to more militant strikes that were better organized both in terms of national and socialist ideology.Less
This chapter focuses on labor unrest among Korean women workers and the public debate among Korean reformers and the Japanese state about how to reassert control over this unruly group. It highlights the paradoxical image of the female worker as at once a helpless victim of economic oppression and an assertive activist. Her image as victim rendered her less threatening (i.e., as a ward of the state or of bourgeois philanthropy) while her activism raised the specter of social disruption and violence. As the economic crisis of the Japanese empire intensified in the 1930s, concessions to Korean female workers declined, leading to more militant strikes that were better organized both in terms of national and socialist ideology.
Kumiko Nemoto
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501702488
- eISBN:
- 9781501706219
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501702488.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter looks at how major Japanese management and employment practices—seniority pay and promotion, track hiring, and household benefits—work against women's upward mobility and reify sex ...
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This chapter looks at how major Japanese management and employment practices—seniority pay and promotion, track hiring, and household benefits—work against women's upward mobility and reify sex segregation in Japanese companies. It compares the salaries and benefits of men and women in similar age groups in the five companies, while explaining the current Japanese employment system, which is based on seniority pay, track hiring, and household benefits, and is highly gender biased. Within the career-track system, firms can hire women as career-track, contract, or temporary workers. The current system legitimizes women's cheap labor and provides low motivation for upward mobility. The chapter also discusses how such a gender-divisive hiring and pay structure has generated tensions among women workers and how it has contributed to their low aspirations.Less
This chapter looks at how major Japanese management and employment practices—seniority pay and promotion, track hiring, and household benefits—work against women's upward mobility and reify sex segregation in Japanese companies. It compares the salaries and benefits of men and women in similar age groups in the five companies, while explaining the current Japanese employment system, which is based on seniority pay, track hiring, and household benefits, and is highly gender biased. Within the career-track system, firms can hire women as career-track, contract, or temporary workers. The current system legitimizes women's cheap labor and provides low motivation for upward mobility. The chapter also discusses how such a gender-divisive hiring and pay structure has generated tensions among women workers and how it has contributed to their low aspirations.
Nancy Woloch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691002590
- eISBN:
- 9781400866366
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691002590.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This book explores the historical role and influence of protective legislation for American women workers, both as a step toward modern labor standards and as a barrier to equal rights. Spanning the ...
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This book explores the historical role and influence of protective legislation for American women workers, both as a step toward modern labor standards and as a barrier to equal rights. Spanning the twentieth century, the book tracks the rise and fall of women-only state protective laws—such as maximum hour laws, minimum wage laws, and night work laws—from their roots in progressive reform through the passage of New Deal labor law to the feminist attack on single-sex protective laws in the 1960s and 1970s. The book considers the network of institutions that promoted women-only protective laws, such as the National Consumers' League and the federal Women's Bureau; the global context in which the laws arose; the challenges that proponents faced; the rationales they espoused; the opposition that evolved; the impact of protective laws in ever-changing circumstances; and their dismantling in the wake of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Above all, the book examines the constitutional conversation that the laws provoked—the debates that arose in the courts and in the women's movement. Protective laws set precedents that led to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and to current labor law; they also sustained a tradition of gendered law that abridged citizenship and impeded equality for much of the century. Drawing on decades of scholarship, institutional and legal records, and personal accounts, the book sets forth a new narrative about the tensions inherent in women-only protective labor laws and their consequences.Less
This book explores the historical role and influence of protective legislation for American women workers, both as a step toward modern labor standards and as a barrier to equal rights. Spanning the twentieth century, the book tracks the rise and fall of women-only state protective laws—such as maximum hour laws, minimum wage laws, and night work laws—from their roots in progressive reform through the passage of New Deal labor law to the feminist attack on single-sex protective laws in the 1960s and 1970s. The book considers the network of institutions that promoted women-only protective laws, such as the National Consumers' League and the federal Women's Bureau; the global context in which the laws arose; the challenges that proponents faced; the rationales they espoused; the opposition that evolved; the impact of protective laws in ever-changing circumstances; and their dismantling in the wake of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Above all, the book examines the constitutional conversation that the laws provoked—the debates that arose in the courts and in the women's movement. Protective laws set precedents that led to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and to current labor law; they also sustained a tradition of gendered law that abridged citizenship and impeded equality for much of the century. Drawing on decades of scholarship, institutional and legal records, and personal accounts, the book sets forth a new narrative about the tensions inherent in women-only protective labor laws and their consequences.
Lisa Rofel
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520210783
- eISBN:
- 9780520919860
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520210783.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
The issue of women's liberation provided one of the most critical terrains on which China endeavored to construct its modernity. At a certain moment, Chinese women's liberation also figured centrally ...
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The issue of women's liberation provided one of the most critical terrains on which China endeavored to construct its modernity. At a certain moment, Chinese women's liberation also figured centrally within western feminism as a means of structuring its own forms of knowledge and politics. This chapter explores the multiple deployments of meaning and power constituting “women's liberation” as it reconsiders the heterogeneous processes through which a small group of women felt galvanized to adopt the kinds of revolutionary subject-positions that the socialist regime provided for them. It focuses on the oldest cohort of women workers, who came of age with the 1950s nationalization of urban industries. In Hangzhou's silk factories, a particular fraction of this cohort repeated that the revolution had liberated them.Less
The issue of women's liberation provided one of the most critical terrains on which China endeavored to construct its modernity. At a certain moment, Chinese women's liberation also figured centrally within western feminism as a means of structuring its own forms of knowledge and politics. This chapter explores the multiple deployments of meaning and power constituting “women's liberation” as it reconsiders the heterogeneous processes through which a small group of women felt galvanized to adopt the kinds of revolutionary subject-positions that the socialist regime provided for them. It focuses on the oldest cohort of women workers, who came of age with the 1950s nationalization of urban industries. In Hangzhou's silk factories, a particular fraction of this cohort repeated that the revolution had liberated them.
