Labour Markets and Communities: An Historical View

Abstract

A recent yet common concern to historians and sociologists has been the relationship between work and community. Attempts by historians to understand how communities functioned in the past have revealed a wealth of evidence with respect to one area of this relationship: the connection between labour markets and the communities in which they operate. This article draws together this growing body of research which suggests the linked operation of labour markets and communities. Personal or group paradigms of appropriate behaviour within the labour market are socially shaped and are not simply an expression of economic rationality. The community is a key area where workers and management develop perceptions of the labour market. The notion of community used here rests on the identification of mutual responsibilities and obligations. These ties may have a critical bearing on the reproduction of social relationships which are produced in the workplace. Community values, and patterns of social organisation originating in the neighbourhood, help determine how workers experience job entry and influence their career expectations. Social historians have emphasized aspects of labour markets which are bound up with community based forms of association. The following are examined here: employer actions, the role of the family and gender relations, and the social bases of worker combinations. Whilst attention is drawn to the continuity between work and community which is implied by labour market concepts, the connection is not seen as invariably unbroken nor always complementary.