Law, factory discipline and 'theft'. The impact of the factory on workplace appropriation in mid to late nineteenth-century Yorkshire
The illegal taking of workplace materials by employees was an inherent part of the majority of eighteenth-century industries. This article summarizes lengthy research into the continuity of workplace 'theft' into the factory age of the mid-nineteenth century, and in particular the Yorkshir...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
1999
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In: |
The British journal of criminology
Year: 1999, Volume: 39, Issue: 1, Pages: 56-71 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Availability in Tübingen: | Present in Tübingen. IFK: In: Z 7 |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Keywords: |
Summary: | The illegal taking of workplace materials by employees was an inherent part of the majority of eighteenth-century industries. This article summarizes lengthy research into the continuity of workplace 'theft' into the factory age of the mid-nineteenth century, and in particular the Yorkshire textile mills. It takes issue with the assumption that the establishment of internal supervisory structures in the factories quickly eradicated workplace 'theft', arguing instead that the criminal law, administered by a private policing agency, remained a central weapon against workplace appropriation until the 1850s. Thereafter, the factories reinforced rather than replaced the use of the criminal code with informal punishments. The article, therefore, suggests that the impact of the criminal law on private workspaces should be reassessed |
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ISSN: | 0007-0955 |
DOI: | 10.1093/bjc/39.1.56 |