Synopses & Reviews
First published in 1982, this pioneering work traces the transformation of "women's work" into wage labor in the United States, identifying the social, economic, and ideological forces that have shaped our expectations of what women do. Basing her observations upon the personal experience of individual American women set against the backdrop of American society, Alice Kessler-Harris examines the effects of class, ethnic and racial patterns, changing perceptions of wage work for women, and the relationship between wage-earning and family roles. In the 20th Anniversary Edition of this landmark book, the author has updated the original and written a new Afterword.
Review
Praise for the Previous Edition:
"Impressive and deftly written....An example or two cannot do justice to the variety of materials and ideas the author draws together to explain how women workers have functioned as a low-paid reserve force, and why, as wage work became the rule rather than the exception in the 20th century, they found themselves in marginal jobs stereotyped as feminine."--The New York Times Book Review
"Comprehensive and packed with information."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Without a doubt the single best survey of transformation of women's paid and unpaid work from the colonial period to the present."--American Historical Review
Review
'\"Does an outstanding job integrating women\'s history and labor history. I am especially impressed by the interplay of culture and technology in this sophisticated analysis.\"--M. Bellesiles,
Emory University\"Without doubt, one of the most influential and well-written books on the subject yet to appear. A real must for courses on labor history or women\'s history.\"--Marlette Rebhorn, Austin Community College
\"[A] fine and expansive work.\"--New Directions for Women
\"In this fine and expansive work, Alice Kessler-Harris traces the history of wage-earning women in America from colonial times through the present.\"--New Directions for Women
\"This brilliant account of the subtle interplay between ideology, job opportunity, and economic pressures of the times, and the manipulation of women in the labor force over the past three centuries will startle and inform.\"--Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York
\"A major historical analysis of women in the wage labor force from colonial times to the present.\"--Sociology Reviews of New Books
\"Without a doubt the single best survey of transformation of women\'s paid and unpaid work from the colonial period to the present.\"--American Historical Review
\"At last--a study that sees women\'s family work and paid work as an interconnected whole! Kessler-Harris\' sophisticated analysis of the relationship of work-force segmentation and cultural attitudes about women\'s role makes an important advance, blending Labor and Women\'s History in a highly readable text.\"--Gerda Lerner, University of Wisconsin, Madison
\"Destined to become the standard work on its subject, the indispensable book to read for anyone interested in the history of wage-earning women in America.\"--David Brody, University of California, Davis
\"[A] highly readable, wide ranging and exciting synthesis of the history of women\'s work--the best one volume treatment I\'ve seen.\"--Barbara Melosh, George Mason University
'
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references and index.
About the Author
Alice Kessler-Harris is the R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History at Columbia University, where she also teaches in the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. She is the author of
A Woman's Wage,
Women Have Always Worked and
In Pursuit of Equity.