Where was women’s work? Gender, work and urban space in Amsterdam, 1650–1791

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article considers the spatial dimension of the gendered urban division of labour. The location of early modern women’s work is investigated through a database of work activities gathered from early modern notarial depositions. Work is here defined broadly as all activities that contribute towards making a living. Women’s (and men’s) work happening inside, outside, at home and away from home in early modern Amsterdam is charted and the complex layers of domesticity and mobility that connect closely to women’s everyday access to the streets are discussed. Women’s labour and the gendered division of work is described in detail, not per specialized sector but as an issue of the general gendered geography of work. The results show strong gendered differences but no strict separations of gendered spheres: although more men worked outside and more women worked inside, we also found men working at home and women working outside, although notably not as much. The major finding is that women did not increasingly work from home, but that men decreasingly did so.