Craft regulation and the division of labour : engineers and compositors in Britain, 1890-1914
This thesis deals with the struggles of two groups of skilled workers in late 19th century Britain, engineers and compositors, to defend their position in the division of labour in the face of pressures towards technical and organisational change. Its principal concern is to trace and explain the divergent long-run experiences of these two occupational groups, focusing particularly on the period 1890-1914. The thesis opens with a critical review of the dominant theoretical approaches to the division of labour. Their tendency to deduce the evolution of the division of labour from a unilinear model of capitalist development, it is argued, renders them incapable of providing an adequate account of such central phenomena as the ongoing complexity of the distribution of skills in the labour force and the impact of industrial conflict on the division of labour itself. Elements of an alternative approach offering a more satisfactory relationship between theory and empirical cases are sketched out; their practical fecundity is explored in the body of the thesis. The body of the thesis is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the relations between skilled workers and employers in engineering and printing before
Zeitlin, Jonathan Hart
DA Great Britain
Craft regulation and the division of labour : engineers and compositors in Britain, 1890-1914. This thesis deals with the struggles of two groups of skilled workers in late 19th century Britain, engineers and compositors, to defend their position in the division of labour in the face of pressures towards technical and organisational change. Its principal concern is to trace and explain the divergent long-run experiences of these two occupational groups, focusing particularly on the period 1890-1914. The thesis opens with a critical review of the dominant theoretical approaches to the division of labour. Their tendency to deduce the evolution of the division of labour from a unilinear model of capitalist development, it is argued, renders them incapable of providing an adequate account of such central phenomena as the ongoing complexity of the distribution of skills in the labour force and the impact of industrial conflict on the division of labour itself. Elements of an alternative approach offering a more satisfactory relationship between theory and empirical cases are sketched out; their practical fecundity is explored in the body of the thesis. The body of the thesis is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the relations between skilled workers and employers in engineering and printing before
craft regulation division_labour engineer britain deal struggle two_group skilled worker britain engineer defend position division_labour face pressure towards technical organisational change principal concern trace explain divergent long run experience occupational group focus_particularly period open critical_review dominant theoretical_approach division_labour tendency deduce evolution division_labour model capitalist development argue render incapable provide_adequate account central phenomenon ongoing complexity distribution skills labour_force impact industrial conflict division_labour itself elements alternative offer satisfactory relationship theory empirical case sketch practical explore body thesis body divide_three_part part focus relation skilled worker employer engineering printing