| Unit name | Hard Labour? The History of Work (Lecture Response Unit) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISTM0050 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. McLellan |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why do men do less washing-up? Why do women get paid less? Is being a housewife a proper job? This unit will explore the history of work in the twentieth century, paying particular attention to the distribution of work between men and women. We will consider formal employment, unpaid work, volunteering, domestic work and reproductive labour. Major themes to be covered include how the political, emotional, and economic value of work has been measured, and how this has been affected by developments in politics, the economy, policy, civil society, the family and the workplace. Sources for this study include datasets, eyewitness accounts and memoirs, newspapers and other media.
1) To give students a detailed understanding of the history of work in the modern world.
2) To improve students’ ability to argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively).
3) To be able to display high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control.
4) To develop the ability of students to evaluate and/or challenge current scholarly thinking.
5) To foster student’s capacity to take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature.
6) To be able to demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise.
7) To develop students’ capacity for independent research.
1 x 2-hour interactive lecture per week.
One summative coursework essay of 5000 words (100%). This will assess ILOs 1-7.
Josef Ehmer and Catharina Lis (eds), The Idea of Work in Europe from Antiquity to Early Modern Times (Ashgate, 2009).
Marcel van der Linden, Workers of the World. Essays toward a Global Labor History (Brill, 2008).
Catharina Lis and Hugo Soly, Worthy Efforts: Attitudes to Work and Workers in Pre-Industrial Europe (Brill, 2012).
Pat Mainardi, 'The Politics of Housework', Redstockings, 1970. http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/CWLUArchive/polhousework.html
Selina Todd, Young Women, Work, and Family in England 1918-1950 (Oxford University Press, 2005).
