Unfair Masters and Rascally Servants? Labour Relations among Bourgeois, Clerks and Voyageurs in the Montréal Fur Trade, 1780-1821
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3981865 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carolyn Podruchny (University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Pages | 43 |
| Publication date | 1999-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Labour / Le Travail (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0700-3862 • E-ISSN: 1911-4842 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/25148937 |
| OpenAlex | W1520643010 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The Montreal fur trade labour system was organized around indentured servitude, paternalism, and cultural hegemony. French Canadian labourers signed legal promising to obey their master in exchange for board and wages. These legal were overshadowed by social contracts which signified continual negotiating for fair working conditions. Although voyageurs did not challenge the structure of the master and servant relationship, they continually pushed at the boundaries of their rights as workers. They diminished master authority through a counter-theatre of resistance, which included working slowly, complaining, stealing provisions, and deserting the service. Resume Le regime de travail associe au commerce de la fourrure de Montreal reposait sur la servitude, le paternalisme et l'hegemonie culturelle. Les journaliers canadiens-francais devaient signer des contrats les obligeant a obeir a leurs maitres qui, en retour, leur fournissaient nourriture et salaire. Ces contrats etaient en fait eclipses par des « contrats sociaux » qui necessitaient des negociations sans cesse renouvelees pour des conditions de travail raisonnables. Les voyageurs ne contestaient pas la hierarchie des relations entre maitre et servants, mais ils repoussaient continuellement les frontieres de leurs droits en tant que travailleurs. Ils reussirent a diminuer l'autorite du maitre par une campagne de resistance qui consistait a travailler lentement, a se plaindre^a voler des vivres et a deserter les compagnies
Art · Bourgeoisie · Humanities · Political science · Politics · Servant · Canadian Identity and History · Engineering · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Law
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2002 - 2022 (21) |
| Highly cited | No |