This title was first published in 2001. A comparative sociological examination of artisans, exploring historical examples and theoretical references to the stratum. The book also investigates empirical case studies and analyzes the variegated careers of contemporary artisans.

From Artisan to Worker examines the largely overlooked debate over the potential reestablishment of guilds that occurred from 1776 to 1821. The abolition of guilds in 1791 overturned an organization of labor that had been in place for centuries. The disorder that ensued - from concerns about the safety of the food supply to a general decline in the quality of goods - raised strong doubts about their abolition and sparked a debate both inside and outside of government that went on for decades. The issue of the reestablishment of guilds, however, subsequently became intertwined with the growing mechanization of production. Under the Napoleonic regime, the government considered several projects to restore guilds in a large-scale fashion, but the counterargument that guilds could impede mechanization prevailed. After Bonaparte's fall, the restored Bourbon dynasty was expected to reorganize guilds, but its sponsorship of an industrial exhibition in 1819 signaled its endorsement of mechanization, and after 1821 there were no further efforts to restore guilds during the Restoration.

The twenty-seven articles presented in this volume mark the first stage of an international research project set up after the comprehensive reorganization of the International Institute of Social History in 1987. The aim of this extensive book project is to study the development of working-class movements using comparative research in an international framework in the time-period 1870-1914. Included in this study are papers by experts on as many countries (both European and non-European) as possible with a modern labour movement: Britain, Belgium The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, The Czech Workers' Movement in the Habsburg Empire, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, The Jewish Workers' Movement in the Russian Empire, Poland, Finland, United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, and Japan.

The first book on Rebecca Riots since 1989 The book looks at the Rebecca riots protest movement in Victorian Wales, in a context informed by not only British and European historiography but also other disciplines including literature and anthropology. The book is informed by recent work in cultural and gender history, which it applies for the first time to the symbolic and ritual content of the protests. The book’s epilogue discusses historical protest in the context of the contemporary resurgence of leaderless extra-parliamentary protest around the world including Occupy, Anonymous, and anti-austerity movements.

First Published in 1990. This is Volume IX in the Library of Peasant Studies series, edited by Mick Reed and Roger Wells. The contributors to this volume discuss the disparity between agricultural history and rural history despite the two becoming synonymous in academic discussion. The editors state that exciting developments continue, but it is clear that the simple accumulation of empirical detail will not on its own, provide explanation and that exploration of the contents within these articles will inform positive change.

This fully revised and updated new edition, extended to cover the period up to 1914, provides the ultimate introduction to British history between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the outbreak of the First World War.

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This book is a survey of the history of work in general and of European urban artisans in particular, from the late middle ages to the era of industrialization. Unlike traditional histories of work and craftsmen, this book offers a multi-faceted understanding of artisan experience situated in the artisans' culture. It treats economic and institutional topics, but also devotes considerable attention to the changing ideologies of work, the role of government regulation in the world of work, the social history of craftspeople, the artisan in rebellion against the various authorities in his world, and the ceremonial and leisure life of artisans. Women, masters, journeymen, apprentices, and non-guild workers all receive substantial treatment. The book concludes with a chapter on the nineteenth century, examining the transformation of artisan culture, exploring how and why the early modern craftsman became the industrial wage-worker, mechanic or shopkeeper of the modern age.

This study offers a radical reassessment of a crucial period of political and cultural history. By looking at some 400 songs, many of which are made available to hear, and at their writers, singers, and audiences, it questions both our relationship with song, and ordinary Britons' relationship with Napoleon, the war, and the idea of Britain itself.