The Social History of Occupational Health
Published on 31. March 2026
286 pages
978-1-040-87674-9 (ISBN)
Description
Despite the immense literature on the social history of industrialization and workers' political movements, there had been virtually no published work on the social history of health hazards and of work-related diseases. First published in 1985, The Social History of Occupational Health is the first to explore this neglected area from the perspectives of social history.
The chapters focus on several issues, placing health at work in a socio-political context. The issues include questions of industrial compensation and the enforcement of safety standards in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as related to controversies of the time on standards of living during industrialization. A number of chapters present international comparisons, particularly regarding working conditions and social policy in Britain and Germany, for example concerning legislation, labour relations, and health and safety standards. Other chapters consider safety at work councils in Italy under fascism and working conditions of women in the 1914-18 war. This book will be beneficial for social historians, medical sociologists and those interested in contemporary occupational health and medicine.
The chapters focus on several issues, placing health at work in a socio-political context. The issues include questions of industrial compensation and the enforcement of safety standards in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as related to controversies of the time on standards of living during industrialization. A number of chapters present international comparisons, particularly regarding working conditions and social policy in Britain and Germany, for example concerning legislation, labour relations, and health and safety standards. Other chapters consider safety at work councils in Italy under fascism and working conditions of women in the 1914-18 war. This book will be beneficial for social historians, medical sociologists and those interested in contemporary occupational health and medicine.
Reviews / Votes
Review of the first publication:'The editor of this collection of essays ought to be highly commended on his illumination of a grossly neglected, under-researched, indeed, marginalised area of social history-the interconnections between work and health. This book is most welcome...'
- Arthur J. McIvor, Scottish Economic and Social History
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
File size
67,92 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-87674-9 (9781040876749)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Paul Weindling
The Social History of Occupational Health
Book
approx. 03/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€121.50
Not yet published
Person
Paul Weindling is Professor emeritus at Oxford Brookes University, UK. His research interests include the history of eugenics and social welfare, victims of Nazi coerced research and medical experiments, and the history of international health.
Content
Preface Foreword Michael Meacehr MP. Chief Opposition Spokesman on Health and Social Security Part One: Introductory 1. Linking Self Help and Medical Science: The Social History of Occupational Health 2. The Social History of Occupational Medicine and Factory Health Services in the Federal Republic of Germany Part Two: Social Conditions and Risk Factors 3. From Workmen's Diseases to Occupational Diseases: the Impact of Experts' Concepts on Workers' Attitudes 4. Disease, Labour Migration and Technological Change: The Case of the Cornish Miners 5. T.N.T. Poisoning and the Employment of Women Workers in the First World War 6. Tuberculosis, Silicosis and the State Industry in North Wales, 1927-1939 7. A Patient in Need of Care: German Occupational Health Statistics 8. Coronary Heart Disease: A Disease of Affluence or a Disease of Industry? Part Three: Compensation 9. The Rise and Decline of Workmen's Compensation 10. What is an Accident? Part Four: Preventive Policies 11. Workers' Insurance versus Protection of the Workers: State Social Policy in Imperial Germany 12. An Inspector Calls: Health and Safety at Work in Inter-war Britain 13. 'The Golden Factory'. Industrial Health and Scientific Management in an Italian Light Engineering Firm. Magnetti Marelli in the Fascist Period
