James Farr - The Work of France, Labor and Culture in Early Modern Times, 1350-1800 (2002)

CRITICAL
ISSUES IN
WORLD AND
INTERNATIONAL
HISTORY
TheWork
ofFrance
JAMESR.FARR
LABOR AND CULTURE IN EARLY
MODERN TIMES, 1350–1800
“A broad-ranging, powerfully argued, and innovative account of the
world of work and its relationship to the key transformations of the
early modern centuries. Farr brings his profound understanding of early
modern life to this core issue, framing the experience and significance
of work for men and women, peasants and city dwellers, skilled and
unskilled, rich and poor. It succeeds on many levels—as a lively and
accessible introduction to the early modern world for undergraduates
and as a provocative interpretative framework for scholars.”
—Julie Hardwick, University of Texas at Austin
In elegant and vivid prose, this deeply informed book offers a powerful
synthesis of the ways men and women worked in early modern France.
Distinguished historian James R. Farr shows how the shifting and often
contradictory forces of an increasingly modern economy shaped ideas
about labor. Presenting a unified and compelling argument about the role
of labor in society, Farr addresses a complex set of questions and succeeds
masterfully at answering them. With its stylish writing and clear themes,
this book will find a broad audience among students and scholars of early
modern Europe, French history, economics, gender studies, anthropol-
ogy, and labor studies.
James R. Farr is professor of history at Purdue University.
European History • France
Series Editor: Morris Rossabi
THEWORKOFFRANCEFARRrowman&
littlefield
For orders and information please contact the publisher
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
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ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-3400-1
ISBN-10: 0-7425-3400-6
9 780742 534001
9 0 0 0 0
Cover image:
A seamstress
workshop.
Antoine
Raspal, “Atelier
de couture en
Aries,” 1760.
Musée Réattu,
Aries.
CRITICAL
ISSUES IN
WORLD AND
INTERNATIONAL
HISTORY
LABORANDCULTUREINEARLY
MODERNTIMES,1350–1800
WorkFranceDSRPBK.indd 1WorkFranceDSRPBK.indd 1 9/26/08 3:26:26 PM9/26/08 3:26:26 PM
The Work of France
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The Work of France
Labor and Culture in Early Modern Times, 1350–1800
James R. Farr
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2008 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Farr, James Richard, 1950–
The work of France : labor and culture in early modern times, 1350–1800 /
by James R. Farr.
p. cm. — (Critical issues in world and international history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-3399-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7425-3399-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-742...