In this evocative book, Angela Woollacott analyzes oral histories, workers' writings, newspapers, official reports, and factory song lyrics to present an intimate view of women munitions workers in Britain during World War I.
Munitions work offered working-class women for the first time independence, a reliable income, even an improved standard of living. But male employers and trade unionists brought them face-to-face with their subordination as women within their own class, while experiences with middle-class women co-workers and police reminded them of their status as working class.
Woollacott sees the woman munitions worker as a powerful symbol of modernity who challenged the gender order through her patriotic work and challenged class differences through her increased spending power, mobility, and changing social behavior.
- ISBN10 0520914651
- ISBN13 9780520914650
- Publish Date 20 May 1994
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint University of California Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 256
- Language English