How War Revolutionized Ireland’s Linen Industry
During the Napoleonic Wars, Irish women, who had traditionally only spun flax into thread, took over the traditionally male job of weaving linen as well.
How YouTube Is Shaping the Future of Work
Americans expect our jobs to provide us with not just money but fulfillment. For many, YouTube represents exactly that promise.
How “Measured Militancy” Empowered California’s Fieldworkers
When Mexican-American fieldworkers' strikes didn't net results, César Chávez led the Ventura County Community Service Organization in alternate tactics.
The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
Sharing economy firms like Lyft and Airbnb promised community, but the ideas they promoted as overturning the status quo are the status quo.
The Militant Miners Who Exposed the Horrors of Black Lung
This grassroots movement brought occupational health to American labor, paving the way for the creation of OSHA.
The Bisbee Deportations
According to one scholar, the 1917 deportation in Bisbee, AZ wasn't "about labor relations or race or gender: it was about all of them."
Why Europeans Have Such Long Summer Vacations
In the 1920s, politicians saw workers’ time off as a way to mold society, encouraging workers to engage in politics and patriotism during their time off.
The American Art Style that Idolized the Machine
Precisionism, a modernist art style that emerged in the early 20th century, glorified the machine age, all but erasing the presence of people.
The Campaign for Child Labor
Why did David Clark lead a successful campaign to keep kids working in the early 20th century? For one thing, child labor benefited his interests.