Workers At Play

First published in 1986. This book explores developments in the cinema, sport, holidays, gambling, drinking and many more recreational activities, and situates working-class leisure within the determining economic and social context. In particular, the inventiveness of working people ‘at play’ is highlighted. Drawing on an extensive range of source material, the book has a wide general appeal, and will be useful to those professionally concerned with leisure, as well as teachers and students of social history, and all those interested in the patterns of working-class life in the past.

A major new study looking at the catalysing role of workers' inquiries in the rebirth of a global labour movement from below

The tension between social reform photography and photojournalism is examined through this study of the life and work of German ?gr?ansel Mieth (1909-1998), who made an unlikely journey from migrant farm worker to Life photographer. She was the second woman in that role, after Margaret Bourke-White. Unlike her colleagues, Mieth was a working-class reformer with a deep disdain for Life's conservatism and commercialism. In fact, her work often subverted Life's typical representations of women, workers, and minorities. Some of her most compelling photo essays used skillful visual storytelling to offer fresh views on controversial topics: birth control, vivisection, labor unions, and Japanese American internment during the Second World War. Her dual role as reformer and photojournalist made her a desirable commodity at Life in the late 1930s and early 40s, but this role became untenable in Cold War America, when her career was cut short. Today Mieth's life and photographs stand as compelling reminders of the vital yet overlooked role of immigrant women in twentieth-century photojournalism. Women, Workers, and Race in LIFE Magazine draws upon a rich array of primary sources, including Mieth's unpublished memoir, oral histories, and labor archives. The book seeks to unravel and understand the multi-layered, often contested stories of the photographer's life and work. It will be of interest to scholars of photography history, women's studies, visual culture, and media history.

Shines a light on how modern education shapes students into becoming compliant workers.

The migration of workers to the high growth countries in Pacific Asia in the 1980s was a new phenomenon in these countries. As such the host governments did not have in place adequate housing, social security and legal protection, but the tight controls following the financial crisis have pushed these issues to the back burner. This volume discusses the debates and controversies surrounding this issue in Malaysia, Taiwan, SIngapore, South Korea, Japan and China.