People have spun yarn and woven fabrics through thousands of years. It was a production which was predominantly carried out as homework or crafts. During the 1700s, though, a revolutionary process was started in England: work became concentrated in large units, equipped with machines powered at first by water wheels and later by steam engines. The industrial form of production spread from England to the European mainland and from there eventually to the rest of the world.
The history of working hours
Last week, I appeared in radio. It was in a daily magazine program called “Apropos” on Danish Radio channel 1. Since the program was starting again after a summer break, the theme of the week was work. My task was to tell the history of working hours: from the 10-11 hours workdays, dictated by … Read more
