The Global History of Work

A vital thematically-arranged collection of key readings exploring the global history of work.

The Global History of Work: Critical Readings provides an extensive reference collection which is essential for all students and scholars needing to gain a critical understanding of work and the history of work.

Collating scholarly historical texts on the subject from the last 50 years and beyond from a wide range of sources, this four-volume set offers a key knowledge resource for the field. The set brings together around 60 essays and papers - from the field-shaping pieces published in the 1970s through to the landmark texts of the recent past and present - and thematically arranges in a way that highlights the crucial topics of discussion and debate in this area of study. The set obviously has a global scope and provides valuable insights into how the field was formed, how it has developed and how it will be studied in the years to come.

Volume 1 explores core concepts to do with work and work history and examines definitions, perceptions and the ‘making of workers’.

Volume 2 focuses on work sites, with an emphasis on locations, migrations and households.

Volume 3 considers labour markets and includes material on unemployment, gender and ethnicity, sociability/social networks and recent trends.

Volume 4 covers collective action and the importance of the politics of labour, unions and forms of resistance.

Each volume includes a substantial contextualizing introduction surveying the development of the field. The Global History of Work: Critical Readings is a major scholarly reference work for all researchers interested in the history of work.