Industrial Violence and the Legal Origins of Child Labor

ISBN-13: 9780521198653 / Angielski / Twarda / 2010 / 304 str.

James D. Schmidt (Northern Illinois University)

Opis

Industrial Violence and the Legal Origins of Child Labor challenges existing understandings of child labor by tracing how law altered the meanings of work for young people in the United States between the Revolution and the Great Depression. Rather than locating these shifts in statutory reform or economic development, it finds the origin in litigations that occurred in the wake of industrial accidents incurred by young workers. Drawing on archival case records from the Appalachian South between the 1880s and the 1920s, the book argues that young workers and their families envisioned an industrial childhood that rested on

Recenzje

'Schmidt's detailed descriptions of factory life illuminate the perilous environment in which workers toiled, and his extensive use of court records gives voice to the child workers and families involved. … In addition, the contrast between the author's penetrating analysis and litigants' practical language makes the book a pleasure to read. This is an essential book for anyone interested in the history of childhood, labor, law or the South.' The Journal of Law and History Review

Spis treści

Prologue: the job; 1. Big enough to work; 2. The divine right to do nothing; 3. Mashed to pieces; 4. Natural instincts; 5. An injury to all; 6. The dawn of child labor; Epilogue: get up and play.