Manchester University Press Gender, Rhetoric and Regulation: Women's Work in the Civil Service and the London County Council, 1900–55 (Gender in History)

The Civil Service and the London County Council employed tens of thousands of women in Britain in the early twentieth century. As public employers these institutions influenced both each other and private organisations, thereby serving as a barometer or benchmark for the conditions of women's white-collar employment. This is the first book-length study of women's public service employment in this period. It is also a new lens through which to examine the women's movement in this period and a contribution to the debate about the effect of the First World War on women's employment. The book examines three key aspects of women's public service employment: inequality of pay, the marriage bar and inequality of opportunity. In so doing, it delineates the levels of regulation and rhetoric surrounding women's employment and the extent to which notions about femininity and womanhood shaped employment policies and, ultimately, women's experiences in the workplace. It draws on a wide range of archival sources, including policy documents, trade union records, women's movement campaign literature and employees' personal testimony. Scholars and students with interests in gender, British social and cultural history and labour history will find this an invaluable text. Review 'This book is highly valuable especially because work on this topic is long overdue. The GPO was the employer of one of the largest female workforces to be gathered together anywhere in the UK before the Second World War and to see how it grappled with and discussed contemporary issues of gender equality is fascinating. The rhetorical approach is vindicated. The research is meticulous, the book is well written and it will stand as the standard work on an important topic for a long time. I hope this absorbing book will stimulate further work in this thought-provoking and under-explored field.'Quentin Outram, University of Leeds, Labour History Review, vol. 81 No. 2 (July 2016) 'This book is meticulously researched, bringing together a wide range of material from numerous archives. It is engaging and compelling, and will undoubtedly become required reading for students of twentieth-century British history, especially those examining the history of women and work in modern Britain.'Mark J. Crowley, Wuhan University, The Journal of the Historical Association From the Back Cover The Civil Service and the London County Council employed tens of thousands of women in Britain in the early twentieth century. As public employers these institutions influenced both each other and private organisations, thereby serving as a barometer or benchmark for the conditions of women's white-collar employment. This is the first book-length study of women's public service employment in this period. It is also a new lens through which to examine the women's movement in this period and a contribution to the debate about the effect of the First World War on women's employment. The book examines three key aspects of women's public service employment: inequality of pay, the marriage bar and inequality of opportunity. In so doing, it delineates the levels of regulation and rhetoric surrounding women's employment and the extent to which notions about femininity and womanhood shaped employment policies and, ultimately, women's experiences in the workplace. It draws on a wide range of archival sources, including policy documents, trade union records, women's movement campaign literature and employees' personal testimony. Scholars and students with interests in gender, British social and cultural history and labour history will find this an invaluable text. About the Author Helen Glew is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Westminster