The World of Women's Trade Unionism - (Contributions in Women's Studies) by Norbert C Soldon (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book is a timely contribution to the study of the impact of trade unionism on women in the work force and how women have exercised power within trade unions. This collection of essays contains brief yet comprehensive histories of women's trade union movements in many of the principal industrial nations of the world--Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Argentina, Italy, and the United States. The authors survey the impact of the cult of true womanhood on the growth of trade unionism. Each author analyzes the relationship between early women's trade unions and guilds, identifies the important leaders, and explains how ideologies affected the expansion of trade unions. Among other subjects treated are the movement's relationship to the feminist movement, the effects of economic depression and rationalization of industry, women's attitudes toward protective legislation and political action, and the effect of the women's liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Finally, the authors assess the advances made as the result of equal-pay legislation and progress in the areas of training, promotion, safety, child-care, maternity leave, and reentry into the work force.

Book Synopsis

This book is a timely contribution to the study of the impact of trade unionism on women in the work force and how women have exercised power within trade unions. This collection of essays contains brief yet comprehensive histories of women's trade union movements in many of the principal industrial nations of the world--Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Argentina, Italy, and the United States. The authors survey the impact of the cult of true womanhood on the growth of trade unionism. Each author analyzes the relationship between early women's trade unions and guilds, identifies the important leaders, and explains how ideologies affected the expansion of trade unions. Among other subjects treated are the movement's relationship to the feminist movement, the effects of economic depression and rationalization of industry, women's attitudes toward protective legislation and political action, and the effect of the women's liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Finally, the authors assess the advances made as the result of equal-pay legislation and progress in the areas of training, promotion, safety, child-care, maternity leave, and reentry into the work force.

Review Quotes

?A collection of comparative essays on the history of organized female labor in countries within North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Each contribution traces the institutional history of trade unionism in the country under consideration, paying special attention to the role of women in unions, the relationships between men and women in the unions, the dominant ideologies about women's work, and the demographic patterns affecting women in the workforce...essays in this volume indicate that working women in the industrialized Western nations of the US, England, and France have made important gains in recent decades, especially with regard to the organization of unskilled and semiskilled workers and the number of women represented in unions. Other essays make clear that for women in Itlay, Argentina, West Germany, and Japan, where they continue to hold subordinate positions in the work force and patriarchal views of women's roles prevail, an awakening of working women similar to that in transatlantic community has not yet occurred. Soldon provides a useful introduction, outlining themes and questions addressed throughout the volume and explaining the value of institutional history for studying the lives of working women.?-CHOICE

"A collection of comparative essays on the history of organized female labor in countries within North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Each contribution traces the institutional history of trade unionism in the country under consideration, paying special attention to the role of women in unions, the relationships between men and women in the unions, the dominant ideologies about women's work, and the demographic patterns affecting women in the workforce...essays in this volume indicate that working women in the industrialized Western nations of the US, England, and France have made important gains in recent decades, especially with regard to the organization of unskilled and semiskilled workers and the number of women represented in unions. Other essays make clear that for women in Itlay, Argentina, West Germany, and Japan, where they continue to hold subordinate positions in the work force and patriarchal views of women's roles prevail, an awakening of working women similar to that in transatlantic community has not yet occurred. Soldon provides a useful introduction, outlining themes and questions addressed throughout the volume and explaining the value of institutional history for studying the lives of working women."-CHOICE

About the Author

ldon /f Norbert /i C. /r ed.