Labour market adjustment a hundred years ago: the case of the Catalan textile industry, 1880–1913

ABSTRACTThis article aims to provide an empirical test of Jan de Vries' theory of the ‘industrious revolution’, most notably his assumptions concerning the increased participation of married women in the labour force. The focus is on the pre-industrial textile industry in the Dutch Republic, within which a distinction is made between various ways in which family members cooperated in the work they undertook. This differentiation depended on the existing segmentation of the labour market, between social groups and between the sexes. It is shown that at least some groups within proletarian textile families were able to make a decent living, and that the earnings of wives played an important role in the increased industriousness of these families.

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Segmentation in the Pre-Industrial Labour Market: Women's Work in the Dutch Textile Industry, 1581–1810

International Review of Social History ◽

10.1017/s0020859006002422 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 189-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk

Keyword(s):

Labour Market ◽

Textile Industry ◽

Women's Work ◽

Single Women ◽

Historical Research ◽

Market Theory ◽

Job Status ◽

Labour Relations ◽

Gender Conflict ◽

Women’S Work

This article analyses women's work in the Dutch textile industry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries within the framework of dual (or segmented) labour market theory. This theoretical framework is usually applied to the modern labour market, but it is also valuable for historical research. It clarifies, for example, how segmentation in the labour market influenced men's and women's work in the textile industry. Applying this analysis, we find that, even in periods without explicit gender conflict, patriarchal and capitalist forces utilized the gender segmentation of the labour market to redefine job status and labour relations in periods of economic change. Although this could harm the economic position of all women and migrants, it appears that single women were affected most by these mechanisms.

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Hunter, Janet. Women and the Labour Market in Japan's Industrialising Economy. The Textile Industry before the Pacific War RoutledgeCurzon, London [etc.] 2003. 326 pp. £65.00

International Review of Social History ◽

10.1017/s0020859004131532 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 318-320

Author(s):

Vera Mackie

Keyword(s):

Labour Market ◽

Textile Industry ◽

Pacific War ◽

The Pacific

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200 Years of Feminisation of Professions in Poland—Mechanism of False Windows of Opportunity

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158179 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8179

Author(s):

Agnieszka Świgost-Kapocsi

Keyword(s):

Labour Market ◽

Public Administration ◽

Textile Industry ◽

Market Theory ◽

Female Labour ◽

Development Path ◽

Windows Of Opportunity ◽

Research Findings ◽

The 19Th Century ◽

Male Labour

This paper presents the problem of the female labour market in Poland and the phenomenon of the feminisation of selected occupations. The main aim was to identify the mechanisms behind the feminisation of occupations in Poland and its consequences by combining considerations of labour market theory with development path theories. This research employed various methods such as the method of analysis of secular trends, as well as a critical reinterpretation of the literature review. Data from the 19th century to 2019 were analysed. The textile industry, education, local public administration, and social care are included in the analysis. The research motivation was to answer the question as to when and under what conditions the selected occupations were feminised. The mechanism of false windows of opportunity was identified, as well as times when the windows of opportunity to enter a given occupation opened and closed for women. Specifically, the research findings described that the female labour market is dependent on the male labour market and thus windows of opportunity offer new employment opportunities but with limited possibilities and under poorer conditions.

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