Saving male time, exploiting female labour

The woman as the "driving force" in premodern society, 1700-1914

Bibliographic Data

ID5845217
AuthorsRené Leboutte (University of Luxembourg, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume11
Issue3
Pages145-150
Publication date2006-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe History of the Family (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1081-602X • E-ISSN: 1873-5398
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/j.hisfam.2006.11.003
OpenAlexW1985658639
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited2

Research on the division of male and female labor during pre-industrial and industrial times has overlooked the significance of the bearing and carrying work done by women in a variety of occupations. The history of the labor force in and around the city of Liege in Belgium provides numerous examples of how women - almost like beasts of burden - carried over long distances bread, coal, and the finished products of domestic industry. In industrializing Liege, they not only took care of the above-ground conveyancing in coal mining, but also often pulled barges through canals and rivers. These activities by women, badly remunerated, eliminated the need for men in these tasks, and thus saved entrepreneurs both time and money. The nuanced investigation of work time, family time, and the division of labor among the sexes, as carried out by Tamara Hareven, has sensitized researchers to questions of this kind for understanding the nature of work in the pre-modern times as well as in the process of industrialization

Division of labour · Industrialisation · Work force · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis

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