This clearly written and deeply informed book explores the nature and
meaning of work in early modern France. Distinguished historian James R.
Farr considers the relationship between material life-specifically the
work activities of both men and women-and the culture in which these
activities were embedded. This culture, he argues, helped shape the
nature of work, invested it with meaning, and fashioned the identities
of people across the social spectrum. Farr vividly traces the daily
lives of peasants, common laborers, domestic servants, prostitutes,
street vendors, craftsmen and -women, merchants, men of the law, medical
practitioners, and government officials. Work was recognized and valued
as a means to earn a living, but it held a greater significance as a
cultural marker of honor, identity, and status. Constants and
continuities in work activities and their cultural aspects shared space
with changes that were so profound and sweeping that France would be
forever transformed. The author focuses on three salient,
interconnected, and at times conflicting developments: the extension and
integration of the market economy, the growth of the state's functions
and governing apparatus, and the intensification of social hierarchy.
Presenting a unified and compelling argument about the role of labor in
society, Farr addresses a complex set of questions and succeeds
masterfully at answering them. With its stylish writing and clear
themes, this book will find a broad audience among students and scholars
of early modern Europe, French history, economics, gender studies,
anthropology, and labor studies.
