Artisans in Europe, 1300–1914

by James R. Farr

• ISBN13: 9780521418881
• ISBN10: 0521418887
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-09-04
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

List of figures	vi
List of illustrations	vii
List of tables	viii
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(9)
The meaning of work: ideology and organization	10	(35)
The craft economy	45	(50)
The workplace	95	(64)
Authority and resistance (I): artisans in the polity	159	(32)
Authority and resistance (II): masters and journeymen	191	(31)
Communities	222	(36)
Ceremonies, festivals, taverns, and games	258	(18)
Epilogue: artisans in the era of industrial capitalism	276	(24)
Index	300