Frontiers of imagination: Feminist worlds

New Feminist scholarship in diverse disciplines, including the social sciences, suggests a distinctive female reality which finds itsbesr literary expression in contemporary speculative fiction by women. Feminist utopias, in particular, delineate alternative societies in which ‘female’ values predominate. In novels by Marge Piercy, Doris Lessing, Ursula Le Guin and many other women, readers may discover holistic and dynamic worlds different from both our current reality and the patriarchal tradition of utopian speculation. When women imagine the ‘good society’, dualistic divisions, often ranked hierarchically in current power structures, tend to disappear, Feminist speculative fiction heals such schisms as those between male and female, matter and spirit, public and private rights, ends and means, even technology and ecology. Although these ‘utopias’ are not perfect, nor intended to be, their depiction of more balanced and integrated societies affords a fresh perspective on traditional political and cultural problems. Ultimately, then, the newly released female imagination may provide us not only a fascinating literature but substantive directions for actual change.     

Everyday worlds of young refugees in London

This article examines the everyday lives of a sample of young refugees living in London, based on a study of the social roles and social networks of refugee children undertaken under the ESRC Children 5–16 Programme. It draws on findings from a survey of refugee and non-refugee children aged between 11 and 14 in two London schools, complemented by data from in-depth interviews with refugee children. The article focuses on the children's responsibilities towards home and family, friendships, and leisure activities. It highlights the experiences of the refugee children in the sample, and explores some gender differences between the social lives of refugee boys and girls, and between the lives of refugee children and those of their non-refugee peers.     

breaking down barriers

This article looks at the ways in which Spanish American women exploited the political and social turmoil of the late 18th and early 19th centuries to move beyond their traditional sphere of influence in the home. Women directly participated in the Túpac Amaru Rebellion (1780–1781) and in the Wars of Independence (1810–1825) providing funding, food supplies, infrastructure and reinforcements for the troops, and nursing the wounded. Others contributed by taking part in the physical fighting (both openly and disguised as men) and a few led troops into battle. This article looks at some of the individuals behind the statistics and reveals their determination to participate despite the punishments imposed on women found guilty of disloyalty to the Spanish crown. Spanish colonial law had to be amended to ensure that women dissidents were given as equally harsh sentences as men. In the immediate post-independence period, rather than be seen as misfits or a threat to the patriarchal system, several of these women were given national awards.     

Editors' introduction

The following is drawn from the editor's remarks at a roundtable session on "State-of-the-Art: Labor and Working-Class History" of the Organization of American Historians, April 12, 2002, in Washington, DC. Also contributing to the panel were Joshua Freeman, editor of ILWCH and Bryan Palmer, editor of Labor/Le Travail . Particularly noteworthy among their remarks was Freeman's paradoxical assertion that " 'Whiteness' is the greatest imperial triumph within labor history since E. P. Thompson's definition of class, even though labor historians may not like how it is used." I also appreciated Palmer's declaration about a field where he sees "a lot of art, but no state. And that is probably a good thing." Intended to engender larger discussion, my words drew an immediate response from Andrew Arnold, published here as a comment. Should interest warrant, Labor History will publish further contributions on this theme.     

The industrial union bulletin: An introduction and appraisal

Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. By John Gaventa. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980. xi, 267 pp. $25.00.

History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Volume V: “The AFL In The Progressive Era, 1910–1915.”; By Philip S. Foner. New York: International Publishers, 1980. 293 pp. $4.95 paper.

Steelmasters and Labor Reform, 1886–1923. By Gerald G. Eggert. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1981. xvii, 212 pp. $17.95.

Life, Work, and Rebellion in the Coal Fields: the Southern West Virginia Miners, 1880–1922. By David Alan Corbin. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1981. 294 pp. $24.95 cloth; $12.50 paper.

The Response of Social Work to the Depression. By Jacob Fisher. Boston: G.K. Hall &; Co., 1980. xxii, 266 pp. $23.95.

The Communist Party and the Auto Workers Unions. By Roger Keeran. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980. 340 pp. $22.50.

Facing Mechanization: The West Coast Longshore Plan. By Lincoln Fairley. Los Angeles: Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California, 1979. xiv, 447 pp. $8.50 paper.

Radical Heritage: Labor, Socialism, and Reform in Washington and British Columbia, 1885–1917. By Carlos A. Schwantes. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1979. ix, 288 pp. $25.00.

Fit Work for Women. Edited by Sandra Burman. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1979. 201 pp. $18.00.

Poverty and Piety in an English Village, Terling: 1525–1700. By Keith Wrightson and David Levine. New York, San Francisco, London: Academic Press, 1979. 254 pp. $21.00.     

The Jewish Mother turned monster: Representations of motherhood by Hebrew women novelists 1881–1993

The paper discusses the changes in the representation of motherhood in Hebrew novels written by women within the span of a century. The outline of the changes is found to be similar to the general trend discernible in women's writing in the West, despite the anomalous history of Hebrew literature. In most general terms, the history of the mother in these novels might be outlined in terms of a move from absence to presence, from silence to voice, from passivity to activity, from asexuality to overt promiscuity, from submission to aggression. Given the culturally ingrained model of the Jewish Mother that the novelists have to cope with, this move is shattering. The mother, who was neglected or even suppressed in the earlier novels, returns, with a vengeance, in more recent ones. The vengeance, though, may prove excessive.