I'll have a collier for my sweetheart: work and gender in a British coal mining town

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:6067968

Szurek, J

This dissertation is based on fieldwork conducted in Seaham, a coal mining town established on the northeast coast of Britain in the nineteenth century. The structure of work, social relationships, and social identities of men and women in the town had changed little until after World War II. In 1947 the coal industry was nationalized and production was automated and modernized, though the occupation of the coal miner remained an arduous one. The analysis in this dissertation proceeds from the assumption that the coal industry depends on a labor force predisposed to its particular demands, and further that the significant changes in the technology employed, the structure of work, and the pay systems in coal mining have had a profound influence on the social roles of men and women. As seen in courtship and marriage, men and women continue to provide a particular kind of support for the labor force and hence the industry. The analysis of the findings in this dissertation is based on an examination of the relationship between coal production and reproduction of the social conditions that support the labor force, compared in two time periods: during the 19th century up until after World War II, and after 1947.

• Research Organization: Brown Univ., Providence, RI (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6067968
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COAL INDUSTRY
NATIONALIZATION
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
UNITED KINGDOM
LABOR
MEN
WOMEN
ANIMALS
EUROPE
FEMALES
INDUSTRY
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
MALES
MAMMALS
MAN
PRIMATES
VERTEBRATES
WESTERN EUROPE
016000* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Health & Safety
294001 - Energy Planning & Policy- Coal
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology