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.     

Modern socialism: an introduction and appraisal

Bisbee ‘17: a novel. By Robert Houston. New York: Pantheon Books, 1979. 287 pp. $10.00.

Minnesota Farmer‐Laborism: The Third‐Party Alternative. By Millard L. Gieske. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979. ix, 389 pp. $15.00.

The Dust Bowl: Men, Dirt, and Depression. By Paul Bonnifield. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1979. xii, 232 pp. $12.50

The Landrum‐Grijjin Act: Twenty Years of Federal Protection of Union Members’ Rights. By Janice R. Bellace and Alan D. Berkowitz. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School Industrial Research Unit, 1979. xiv, 363 pp. $15.00.

Political Control of the Economy. By Edward R. Tufte. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978. xi, 168 pp. $10.00.

Auto Work and Its Discontents. Edited by B.J. Widick. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976. 112 pp. $8.00.

Corporate Power and Urban Crisis in Detroit. By Lynda A. Ewen. Princeton University Press, 1978. xii, 312 pp. $17.50.

The Impact of the AT&;T‐EEO Consent Decree. By Herbert R. Northrup, and John A. Larson. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School Industrial Research Unit, 1979. xvi, 234 pp. $11.50.

Women in the Labor Market. Edited by Cynthia B. Lloyd, Emily S. Andrews and Curtis L. Gilroy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979. xxi, 377 pp. $25.00.

Mary Lyon and Mount Holyoke. By Elizabeth Alden Green. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1979. 406 pp. $17.50.

The Making of a Feminist: Early Journals and Letters of M. Carey Thomas. Edited by Marjorie Housepian Dobkin with a foreword by Millicent Carey McIntosh. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1979. 314 pp. $15.00.

The Kaleidoscopic Lens: How Hollywood Views Ethnic Groups. Edited by Randal M. Miller. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Jerome S. Ozer, 1980. xiii, 222 pp. $12.95.

Consciousness and Class Experience in Nineteenth‐Century Europe. Edited by John M. Merriman. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1979. vii, 261 pp. $24.50.

Women, Work, and Family. By Louise A. Tilly and Joan W. Scott. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1978. xiv, 274 pp. $6.95 paperback.

The Friends of Liberty: The English Democratic Movement in the Age of the French Revolution. By Albert Goodwin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979. 594 pp. $20.00.

Independent Collier: The Coalminer as Archetypal Proletarian Reconsidered. Edited by Royden Harrison. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978. 276 pp. $20.00.

British Socialists: The Journey from Fantasy to Politics. By Stanley Pier‐son. Cambridge: MA Harvard University Press, 1979.403 pp. $25.00.

Cunningham Graham: A Critical Biography. By Cedric Watts and Laurence Davies. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1980. xiii, 333 pp. $27.50.

G. D. H. Cole and Socialist Democracy. By A. W. Wright. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. 301 pp. $36.00.

Paths To Authority: The Middle Class and the Industrial Labor Force in France, 1820–48. By Peter N. Stearns. Urbana, Chicago, London: University of Illinois Press, 1978. 222 pp. $20.00.     

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 party organizer: An introduction and appraisal

A Behavioral Approach to Historical Analysis. By Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr. New York: The Free Press. 1969. 321 pp. $7.95.

The Cross of Culture: A Social Analysis of Midwestern Politics, 1850–1900. By Paul Kleppner. New York: The Free Press. 1970. 375 pp.