Women's Work - SFBA Book Club

336 pages

English language

Published Oct. 24, 1995 by Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W..

ISBN:: 978-0-393-28558-1

(1 review)

Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women.

Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.

Elizabeth Wayland Barber has drawn from data gathered by the most sophisticated new archaeological methods—methods she herself helped to fashion. In a "brilliantly original book" (Katha Pollitt, Washington Post Book World), she argues that women were a powerful economic force in the ancient world, with their own industry: fabric.

1 edition

bwaber@bookwyrm.social reviewed Women's Work by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

A Fascinating Book on a Critical Topic

4 stars

While a bit too focused on European pre-history than I'd like, this is still an incredible view into the evolving role of women in society. This isn't just about work, especially because economic production before the invention of money is hard to disentangle from social functions. This book dives into the archaeological record to piece together the role of women in society and how technological changes shaped that role - moving from one of child rearing to incorporating other tasks that could be done in the home to eventually full fledged production of complex goods.

I particularly liked how this book draws from various sources, and the author even engages in different types of weaving herself to understand what would have been done in the past. This contrasts sharply with economists of today, who often eschew qualitative and experiential understanding of companies and work and instead focus only on numbers. …

While a bit too focused on European pre-history than I'd like, this is still an incredible view into the evolving role of women in society. This isn't just about work, especially because economic production before the invention of money is hard to disentangle from social functions. This book dives into the archaeological record to piece together the role of women in society and how technological changes shaped that role - moving from one of child rearing to incorporating other tasks that could be done in the home to eventually full fledged production of complex goods.

I particularly liked how this book draws from various sources, and the author even engages in different types of weaving herself to understand what would have been done in the past. This contrasts sharply with economists of today, who often eschew qualitative and experiential understanding of companies and work and instead focus only on numbers. Overall this is a quick, engaging read.