Synopses & Reviews
This book explores the material dimensions of class formation in eighteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, and nineteenth-century Lowell, Massachusetts. During their economic peaks these cities represented perhaps the purist forms of capitalism in North America. The two cities reveal contrasting portraits of class identity, one based upon the analysis of material culture and spatial practices, and one based upon the examination of environmental conditions and health. This ground-breaking study argues that notions of class incorporating variables such as ethnicity and gender were shaped by the shifting ecologies of capitalism itself.
Synopsis
Engaging study which looks at archaeological, documentary and environmental evidence to explore the factors determining class identity.
About the Author
Stephen A. Mrozowksi is Director of the Fiske Memorial Center for Archeological Research and Professor of Archeology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is the author of numerous articles, and co-editor (with James A. Delle and Robert Paynter) of The Lines that Divide: Historical Archaeologies of Race, Class and Gender (2003). He also serves on the editorial board of The International Journal of Historical Archaeology.
Table of Contents
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Individuals in context: the world of eighteenth century Newport; 3. Shifting the focus: archaeology of the urban household; 4. A new world created: nineteenth century Lowell; 5. Interrogating the experiment: Lowell's urban space and culture; 6. Conclusion: contested spaces and the threads of everyday life; 7. Epilogue: towards a dialectical archaeology of class; Appendix A. Isolating and dating archaeological assemblages in the urban context.