A Cultural History of Work

Winner of the 2020 PROSE Award for Multivolume Reference/Humanities

How has our relationship with ‘work’ changed for different cultures over the centuries? What effect has it had on politics, art and religion?

In a work that spans 2,500 years these ambitious questions are addressed by 63 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. With the help of a broad range of case material they illustrate broad trends and nuances of the culture of work in Western culture from antiquity to the present. Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.

The six volumes cover: 1 – Antiquity (500 BCE to 800 CE); 2 – Medieval Age (800 to 1450); 3 – Early Modern Age (1450 to 1650); 4 – Age of Enlightenment (1650 to 1800); 5 – Age of Empire (1800 to 1920); 6 – Modern Age (1920 to the present).

Themes (and chapter titles) are: The Economy of Work; Picturing Work; Work and Workplaces; Workplace Cultures; Work, Skill and Technology; Work and Mobility; The Political Culture of Work; and Work and Leisure.

The page extent for the pack is approximately 1,400 pages. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors and an Introduction, and concludes with Notes, Bibliography, and an Index.

The Cultural Histories Series

A Cultural History of Work is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com.

Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com.