The Clerical Profession and the Administrative Revolution: the Rise of the Modern Workplace in Britain, 1919-1979.

20世纪英国职业生活最戏剧性的变化之一是非体力劳动劳动力的指数增长。与文书相关的工作是该部门增长最快的类别之一。现代企业的发展需要大量的文书工作和管理系统。新技术--如加工机、静电复印机和电动打字机--为工作场所带来了更快的速度和易读性，同时合理化的工作程序将办公室转变为商业神经中枢。然而，关于这对办事员的工作生活产生的影响，我们所知甚少。这个项目提供了一个关于文书工作者的新视角，并加深了对英国近代社会、经济、性别和商业史一个特别丰富但研究不足的方面的了解。1919年至1979年(撒切尔主义标志着劳资关系和服务部门扩张的新时代)期间，办公室环境发生了变化。它越来越被认为是现代工作场所的所在地。随着时间的推移，文书工作人员、他们的同事和工作场所之间的关系是如何变化的？这个职业群体是如何被阶级、性别和新技术塑造的？文书职业在工作性质或职责上并不统一。为了最大化地位和经济报酬，并与体力劳动者保持距离，越来越多的办事员希望重新定义这一职业的专业边界。然而，这一“专业”职业并不向越来越多的文书工作人员开放，对他们来说，办公室生涯可能在结婚前一直被视为一种约会。文书工作的任务是如何在这种日常工作和遵循专业或管理路线的职业之间进行划分的？为了回答这些问题，该项目将首次使用来自领先公司(米德兰银行、保诚保险公司、伦敦交通和邮局)的多个案例研究来调查文职人员，这些公司横跨一系列行业(银行、保险、运输和邮政服务)。它将调查招聘和晋升机会，并提供培训，以跟踪职业道路。性别分工的调整和维持将有助于日益增长的性别职业隔离学术研究。科技常常被认为是男子气概。然而，技术变革与办公室工作之间的关系更为复杂，对文书职业的研究将为理解性别和技术的社会结构提供新的参考框架。通过考察文职人员协会和工会，我们可以把工作场所作为激进主义的重要场所。考虑到文书工作者如何抵制、谈判和塑造他们的工作环境，这项研究将挑战专门关注第一次世界大战后白领工作条件恶化的学术辩论。该项目建立在早期部分资助的研究活动的基础上。2013年，经济史学会提供了一笔小额研究经费，资助了一个成功的牧师激进主义试点项目。作为AHRC研究网络“定制行业：服装、劳工和专业社区”的联合调查员，我开展了关于服装在职业身份和女性职员话语中的作用的研究。通过与毕晓普斯盖特研究所和工人阶级运动图书馆合作，该项目将从与外部用户接触中受益，并产生公共影响。两人都收藏了大量与办事员有关的藏品。合作将为人们的日常工作生活提供丰富的洞察力，同时也探索创造和应用公共历史的新的、创新的方法。

One of the most dramatic changes to working lives in twentieth century Britain was the exponential growth of the non-manual labour force. Clerical-related work was one of the fastest growing categories in this sector. The growth of modern corporations necessitated a flood of paperwork and administrative systems. New technologies - such as adding machines, Xerography and electric typewriters - brought greater speed and legibility to the workplace whilst rationalized work procedures transformed offices into nerve centres of business. Yet we know surprising little about the impact this had on the working lives of clerks. This project provides a fresh perspective on clerical workers and establishes an enhanced understanding of a particularly rich yet under-researched aspect of recent British social, economic, gender and business history.The period from 1919 to 1979 (when Thatcherism marked a new era of industrial relations and expansion of the service sector) witnessed the transformation of the office environment. It was increasingly identified as the location of the modern workplace. How did the relationship between clerical workers, their colleagues and the workplace change over time? How was this occupational group shaped by class, gender and new technologies? There was not uniformity in the nature of work or responsibilities among clerical occupations. To maximise status, financial remuneration, and to distance themselves from manual workers, an increasing number of clerks wished to redefine the professional boundaries of this occupation. However this 'professional' career was not open to a growing segment of the clerical workforce for whom an office career may have been viewed an appointment until marriage. How were tasks of clerical work divided between this routine work and a career that followed a professional or managerial route? To answer these questions this project will be the first to examine clerical workers using multiple case studies from leading companies (Midland Bank, Prudential Assurance Company, London Transport and the Post Office) that cut across a range of industries (banking, insurance, transport and postal service). It will investigate recruitment and promotional opportunities, alongside provisions for training, in order to track career pathways. The restructuring and maintenance of a sexual division of labour will contribute to the growing scholarship on gendered occupational segregation. Technology was often identified with masculinity. However the relationship between technological change and office work was more complicated and a study of the clerical profession will provide a new frame of reference for understanding the social construction of gender and technology. By examining clerical staff associations and trade unions, we can focus on the workplace as an important site of activism. Considering ways clerical workers resisted, negotiated and shaped their working environments, the research will challenge academic debates focusing exclusively on the degradation of white-collar working conditions after the First World War.The project builds on earlier part-funded research activity. A 2013 Economic History Society small research grant funded a successful pilot project on clerical activism. As Co-Investigator of the AHRC research network 'Tailored Trades: Clothes, Labour and Professional Communities', I developed research on the role of clothing in discourses of professional identity and female clerks. By working in partnership with the Bishopsgate Institute and Working Class Movement Library, the project will benefit from engaging with external users and have a public impact. Both hold extensive collections relating to clerks. The collaboration will offer a rich insight into people's daily working lives, while also exploring new, innovative approaches to the creation and application of public history.