TY - JOUR
T1 - Polish women labour inspectors between the world wars
T2 - scrutinizing the workplace and mobilizing public opinion
AU - Popova, Zhanna
N1 - © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023/6/29
Y1 - 2023/6/29
N2 - This article explores the history of women’s activism within the state apparatus, focusing on women labour inspectors in interwar Poland. Part of the State Labour Inspectorate since its creation in 1919, women inspectors often combined their professional duties with a distinctly activist stance. Like their male colleagues, they ensured compliance with labour legislation by performing factory visits and collecting information on the conditions of workers’ lives and labour. But they also led campaigns in the press, published books and brochures intended to mobilize public opinion around issues related to the labour of women and minors, and sought to build activist networks aimed at the improvement of women workers’ conditions. They exposed particularly exploitative labour arrangements, such as the labour of underage apprentices, and conceptualized them as urgent social problems. These multiple engagements meant that women labour inspectors moved between different scales of action including direct intervention on the shop floor, research and publications aimed at a national audience, and transnational contacts with the International Labour Organization, which had been committed to improving women workers’ conditions since its inception.
AB - This article explores the history of women’s activism within the state apparatus, focusing on women labour inspectors in interwar Poland. Part of the State Labour Inspectorate since its creation in 1919, women inspectors often combined their professional duties with a distinctly activist stance. Like their male colleagues, they ensured compliance with labour legislation by performing factory visits and collecting information on the conditions of workers’ lives and labour. But they also led campaigns in the press, published books and brochures intended to mobilize public opinion around issues related to the labour of women and minors, and sought to build activist networks aimed at the improvement of women workers’ conditions. They exposed particularly exploitative labour arrangements, such as the labour of underage apprentices, and conceptualized them as urgent social problems. These multiple engagements meant that women labour inspectors moved between different scales of action including direct intervention on the shop floor, research and publications aimed at a national audience, and transnational contacts with the International Labour Organization, which had been committed to improving women workers’ conditions since its inception.
KW - Labour inspection
KW - Second Polish Republic
KW - labour history
KW - women’s labour activism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163752774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/25739638.2023.2227516
DO - 10.1080/25739638.2023.2227516
M3 - Article
C2 - 38013806
AN - SCOPUS:85163752774
SN - 2573-9638
VL - 31
SP - 301
EP - 319
JO - Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe
JF - Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe
IS - 2
ER -