The Social Drama of Daily Work

Part manifesto, part manual, this book offers historians of all levels both subject and approach. The subject is work. In every place-time people made and sold objects – and struggled with annoying customers or government regulation. They healed clients – and wanted to bolster their prestige and keep out interlopers. Studying work allows historians to delve into the experiences of non-elite groups using texts, images, or objects. The wide-ranging approach is based on the Chicago-school sociology of occupations, which starts from the premise that work isn’t just a job: it’s a drama created by people making decisions that shape and are shaped by their place-time. Packed with examples from Ming Chinese apothecaries to twentieth-century New York City doormen, this book is a must for those who want to enliven their study of the past by examining how people spent most of their days and lives: at work.