Working men’s bodies: Work camps in Britain, 1880–1940

Product Description Britain’s work camp systems have never before been studied in depth. Highly readable, and based on thorough archival research and the reminiscences of those involved, this fascinating book addresses the relations between work, masculinity, training and citizen service. The book is a comprehensive study, from the labour colonies of late Victorian and Edwardian Britain to the government instructional centres of the 1930s. It covers therapeutic communities for alcoholics, epileptics, prostitutes and ‘mental defectives’, as well as alternative communities founded by socialists, anarchists and nationalists in the hope of building a new world. It explores residential training schemes for women, many of which sought to develop ‘soft bodies’ fit for domestic service, while more mainstream camps were preoccupied with ‘hardening’ male bodies through heavy labour. Working men’s bodies will interest anyone specialising in modern British history, and those concerned with social policy, training policy, unemployment, and male identities. Review This is a fascinating, well-written and thoughtful study.‘Working Men's Bodies: Work Camps in Britain, 1880-1940 is an exhaustive exploration of the role of work camps and camp movements in modern British history…The sheer scope of John Field’s analysis is impressive…It is an important contribution to shared understandings of how bodies are shaped and managed through public discourse and policy interventions. Working Men’s Bodies will therefore also appeal to readers interested in sociology, labor policy, and the gendered nature of work.’Abbas, Carleton University, H-Disability July 2016 From the Back Cover John Field’s book is the first in-depth study of Britain’s many work camp systems. Highly readable, and based on painstaking archival research, as well as reminiscences of those involved, it tackles aspects of work, masculinity, training and citizen service that sound remarkably familiar in today’s world. Labour colonies flourished in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain, providing a combination of work and discipline for such diverse groups as the unemployed, alcoholics, epileptics, ex-servicemen and ‘mental defectives’. Socialists, anarchists and feminists also founded their own land colonies, in the hope of building a new world. Government and others also used work camps to train potential emigrants for the Dominions. With the unemployment crisis of the 1930s, these different initiatives were overtaken by a national system of government work camps, designed to ‘harden’ the long term unemployed. The book also explores residential training schemes for women, including the domestic servant training centres of the interwar years, and nineteenth-century colonies for deviant women. While specific British circumstances shaped the systems that developed here, we can also understand work camps as an international phenomenon, ranging from well-known systems in Germany and the USA to lesser-known camp movements in Sweden and Ireland. Yet almost all work camp movements shared a preoccupation with men, seeking to reshape their bodies through heavy labour. Working men’s bodies will interest anyone specialising in modern British history, as well as those concerned with social policy, vocational education and male identities. About the Author John Field is a Professor in the School of Education, University of Stirling, Scotland