1.
Heinemann, Julia; de Matos, Christine; Sundevall, Fia; Ahlbäck, Anders
Unpacking Coercion in Gendered War Labor Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 225-237, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Unpacking Coercion in Gendered War Labor},
author = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {225-237},
abstract = {While in recent decades there have been growing bodies of literature on gender and war, on war and military labor, and on various forms and degrees of labor coercion, rarely have these areas – gender, coercion and war labor – been analyzed together as intersecting and interdependent themes. The special issue on Gender, War and Coerced Labor aims to fill this gap, and this introduction to the issue will not only present the five papers but also establish the three intersecting themes uniting these papers. Together the introduction and the papers contribute toward larger debates about the place of coercion, of degrees of exploitation, and of free/unfree continuums in a variety of gendered war work.},
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pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
While in recent decades there have been growing bodies of literature on gender and war, on war and military labor, and on various forms and degrees of labor coercion, rarely have these areas – gender, coercion and war labor – been analyzed together as intersecting and interdependent themes. The special issue on Gender, War and Coerced Labor aims to fill this gap, and this introduction to the issue will not only present the five papers but also establish the three intersecting themes uniting these papers. Together the introduction and the papers contribute toward larger debates about the place of coercion, of degrees of exploitation, and of free/unfree continuums in a variety of gendered war work.
2.
Yılmaz, Gülay
Janissaries in the Making: Coerced Labor and Chivalric Masculinity in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 238-255, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Janissaries in the Making: Coerced Labor and Chivalric Masculinity in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire},
author = {Gülay Yılmaz},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {238-255},
abstract = {Until the late sixteenth century, the devşirme system was the main method of manning the janissary army. This was no simple conscription. It required an intense process of identity formation that transformed adolescent Christian boys into Muslim warriors fighting for Islam and the sultan. The training that the boys and young men received was composed of several aspects, including coerced labor, disciplined and harsh physical training, the learning of Turkish and Islamic practices, and a mental formation that would give them a certain perception of their manhood. This article examines these prominent components of janissary training. First, it investigates the function of coerced labor in the boys’ transformation, followed by a discussion of the centrality of structured and intensive training with weapons to become professional warriors. Second, it examines the masculine identity formed by the communal way of life in the barracks as soldiers and by notions of military prowess, brotherhood, and comrade solidarity that were strengthened through Bektashism. These dynamics are investigated through an examination of archival sources, chronicles, travelers’ writings, and poems by janissary poets.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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}
Until the late sixteenth century, the devşirme system was the main method of manning the janissary army. This was no simple conscription. It required an intense process of identity formation that transformed adolescent Christian boys into Muslim warriors fighting for Islam and the sultan. The training that the boys and young men received was composed of several aspects, including coerced labor, disciplined and harsh physical training, the learning of Turkish and Islamic practices, and a mental formation that would give them a certain perception of their manhood. This article examines these prominent components of janissary training. First, it investigates the function of coerced labor in the boys’ transformation, followed by a discussion of the centrality of structured and intensive training with weapons to become professional warriors. Second, it examines the masculine identity formed by the communal way of life in the barracks as soldiers and by notions of military prowess, brotherhood, and comrade solidarity that were strengthened through Bektashism. These dynamics are investigated through an examination of archival sources, chronicles, travelers’ writings, and poems by janissary poets.
3.
Agutter, Karen; Kevin, Catherine
From Forced to Coerced Labour: Displaced Mothers and Teen Girls in Post-World War II Australia Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 256-268, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {From Forced to Coerced Labour: Displaced Mothers and Teen Girls in Post-World War II Australia},
author = {Karen Agutter and Catherine Kevin},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {256-268},
abstract = {At the end of World War Two 1.2 million people were officially labelled Displaced Persons (DPs). Stateless, or refusing to return home, the majority were resettled in other countries including Australia which, like most receiving nations, saw these refugees primarily as a labour force for post-war economic recovery and expansion. However, unlike other nations, DPs destined for Australia signed a work contract which committed them to two years of assigned labour after arrival. This paper considers two specific subsets of these DPs, the ‘unsupported mothers’ (single, widowed, and divorced mothers with young children) and female unaccompanied teenagers. It illuminates the intersections of gender and displacement on the labour status of female DPs in post-war Australia and traces the continuities of coerced labour in their experiences of war and migration. We argue that the early life of female DPs in Australia provides an example of a continuum of forced and coerced labour which had begun under the shadow of war in Nazi Germany and continued after migration.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
At the end of World War Two 1.2 million people were officially labelled Displaced Persons (DPs). Stateless, or refusing to return home, the majority were resettled in other countries including Australia which, like most receiving nations, saw these refugees primarily as a labour force for post-war economic recovery and expansion. However, unlike other nations, DPs destined for Australia signed a work contract which committed them to two years of assigned labour after arrival. This paper considers two specific subsets of these DPs, the ‘unsupported mothers’ (single, widowed, and divorced mothers with young children) and female unaccompanied teenagers. It illuminates the intersections of gender and displacement on the labour status of female DPs in post-war Australia and traces the continuities of coerced labour in their experiences of war and migration. We argue that the early life of female DPs in Australia provides an example of a continuum of forced and coerced labour which had begun under the shadow of war in Nazi Germany and continued after migration.
4.
Henshaw, Alexis
De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016) Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 2, pp. 269-286, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016)},
author = {Alexis Henshaw},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {2},
pages = {269-286},
abstract = {Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.
5.
Brooks, Emily
Coercive Patriotism: Gender, Militarism, and Auxiliary Police in New York City during World War II Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 287-303, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Coercive Patriotism: Gender, Militarism, and Auxiliary Police in New York City during World War II},
author = {Emily Brooks},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {287-303},
abstract = {This article explores the formation and operation of an auxiliary police agency, the City Patrol Corps, created by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in New York City during World War II. It mines the organization’s internal documents to argue that during the war New York City leaders coerced civilian men to serve in the auxiliary police force, which, in turn, exerted a coercive power over residents of the city. Both of these dynamics comprised part of a process of militarization and expanded criminalization in the city during the war, which was common in cities across the United States during these years, and which this article contends was justified through coercive patriotism. The article further explores the role of gender and race in informing New Yorkers’ motivations to join the City Patrol Corps, their experiences in the organization, and their perceptions of criminality and disorder. In the context of the war mobilization, city leaders argued that surveilling its streets and preventing crime and disorder was an essential component of the war effort. As La Guardia declared in 1940, ‘the maintenance of law and order in our large cities is one of the most important functions of our National Defense Program.’},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article explores the formation and operation of an auxiliary police agency, the City Patrol Corps, created by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in New York City during World War II. It mines the organization’s internal documents to argue that during the war New York City leaders coerced civilian men to serve in the auxiliary police force, which, in turn, exerted a coercive power over residents of the city. Both of these dynamics comprised part of a process of militarization and expanded criminalization in the city during the war, which was common in cities across the United States during these years, and which this article contends was justified through coercive patriotism. The article further explores the role of gender and race in informing New Yorkers’ motivations to join the City Patrol Corps, their experiences in the organization, and their perceptions of criminality and disorder. In the context of the war mobilization, city leaders argued that surveilling its streets and preventing crime and disorder was an essential component of the war effort. As La Guardia declared in 1940, ‘the maintenance of law and order in our large cities is one of the most important functions of our National Defense Program.’
6.
Barton, Deborah
‘A Female Voice is Instrumental’: Gender, Propaganda, and Coerced Labor on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945 Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 304-320, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {‘A Female Voice is Instrumental’: Gender, Propaganda, and Coerced Labor on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945},
author = {Deborah Barton},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {304-320},
abstract = {This article examines the role of local, female propagandists utilized by the German army on the Eastern Front during WWII. Although the work they undertook aligned with postwar notions of collaboration, the propagandists’ experiences at the hands of the Wehrmacht, in a context of a violent war and repressive occupation, constitutes coerced labour in multiple forms. Regardless of the women’s motivations for working for the Wehrmacht, they entered a relationship of domination and dependence with the occupation force. While female propagandists numbered far fewer than their male counterparts, they held a particular importance for German high command who believed that their “feminine” traits, such as empathy and charm, helped the Wehrmacht influence and control the largely female civilian population. At the same time, their work on the frontlines encouraging Red Army soldiers to defect crossed traditional gender boundaries. In this task too, the women were valued for their gender with German authorities believing that Soviet soldiers, largely deprived of female contact, would be particularly receptive to the charm of a woman’s voice. Such coerced labor on behalf of the Wehrmacht rendered these women vulnerable not only to German violence, but also to Soviet accusations of collaboration and its associated reprisals.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article examines the role of local, female propagandists utilized by the German army on the Eastern Front during WWII. Although the work they undertook aligned with postwar notions of collaboration, the propagandists’ experiences at the hands of the Wehrmacht, in a context of a violent war and repressive occupation, constitutes coerced labour in multiple forms. Regardless of the women’s motivations for working for the Wehrmacht, they entered a relationship of domination and dependence with the occupation force. While female propagandists numbered far fewer than their male counterparts, they held a particular importance for German high command who believed that their “feminine” traits, such as empathy and charm, helped the Wehrmacht influence and control the largely female civilian population. At the same time, their work on the frontlines encouraging Red Army soldiers to defect crossed traditional gender boundaries. In this task too, the women were valued for their gender with German authorities believing that Soviet soldiers, largely deprived of female contact, would be particularly receptive to the charm of a woman’s voice. Such coerced labor on behalf of the Wehrmacht rendered these women vulnerable not only to German violence, but also to Soviet accusations of collaboration and its associated reprisals.
7.
Kučera, Rudolf
Rationed Life. Science, Everyday Life, and Working-Class Politics in the Bohemian Lands, 1914–1918 Book
2016.
@book{nokey,
title = {Rationed Life. Science, Everyday Life, and Working-Class Politics in the Bohemian Lands, 1914–1918},
author = {Rudolf Kučera},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-10-01},
abstract = {Far from the battlefront, hundreds of thousands of workers toiled in Bohemian factories over the course of World War I, and their lives were inescapably shaped by the conflict. In particular, they faced new and dramatic forms of material hardship that strained social ties and placed in sharp relief the most mundane aspects of daily life, such as when, what, and with whom to eat. The book reconstructs the experience of the Bohemian working class during the Great War through explorations of four basic spheres—food, labor, gender, and protest—that comprise a case study in early twentieth-century social history.
},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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Far from the battlefront, hundreds of thousands of workers toiled in Bohemian factories over the course of World War I, and their lives were inescapably shaped by the conflict. In particular, they faced new and dramatic forms of material hardship that strained social ties and placed in sharp relief the most mundane aspects of daily life, such as when, what, and with whom to eat. The book reconstructs the experience of the Bohemian working class during the Great War through explorations of four basic spheres—food, labor, gender, and protest—that comprise a case study in early twentieth-century social history.
2023
Heinemann, Julia; de Matos, Christine; Sundevall, Fia; Ahlbäck, Anders
Unpacking Coercion in Gendered War Labor Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 225-237, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: gender, military, war
@article{nokey,
title = {Unpacking Coercion in Gendered War Labor},
author = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {225-237},
abstract = {While in recent decades there have been growing bodies of literature on gender and war, on war and military labor, and on various forms and degrees of labor coercion, rarely have these areas – gender, coercion and war labor – been analyzed together as intersecting and interdependent themes. The special issue on Gender, War and Coerced Labor aims to fill this gap, and this introduction to the issue will not only present the five papers but also establish the three intersecting themes uniting these papers. Together the introduction and the papers contribute toward larger debates about the place of coercion, of degrees of exploitation, and of free/unfree continuums in a variety of gendered war work.},
keywords = {gender, military, war},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
While in recent decades there have been growing bodies of literature on gender and war, on war and military labor, and on various forms and degrees of labor coercion, rarely have these areas – gender, coercion and war labor – been analyzed together as intersecting and interdependent themes. The special issue on Gender, War and Coerced Labor aims to fill this gap, and this introduction to the issue will not only present the five papers but also establish the three intersecting themes uniting these papers. Together the introduction and the papers contribute toward larger debates about the place of coercion, of degrees of exploitation, and of free/unfree continuums in a variety of gendered war work.
Yılmaz, Gülay
Janissaries in the Making: Coerced Labor and Chivalric Masculinity in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 238-255, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: early modern history, gender, military, ottoman empire, war
@article{nokey,
title = {Janissaries in the Making: Coerced Labor and Chivalric Masculinity in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire},
author = {Gülay Yılmaz},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {238-255},
abstract = {Until the late sixteenth century, the devşirme system was the main method of manning the janissary army. This was no simple conscription. It required an intense process of identity formation that transformed adolescent Christian boys into Muslim warriors fighting for Islam and the sultan. The training that the boys and young men received was composed of several aspects, including coerced labor, disciplined and harsh physical training, the learning of Turkish and Islamic practices, and a mental formation that would give them a certain perception of their manhood. This article examines these prominent components of janissary training. First, it investigates the function of coerced labor in the boys’ transformation, followed by a discussion of the centrality of structured and intensive training with weapons to become professional warriors. Second, it examines the masculine identity formed by the communal way of life in the barracks as soldiers and by notions of military prowess, brotherhood, and comrade solidarity that were strengthened through Bektashism. These dynamics are investigated through an examination of archival sources, chronicles, travelers’ writings, and poems by janissary poets.},
keywords = {early modern history, gender, military, ottoman empire, war},
pubstate = {published},
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}
Until the late sixteenth century, the devşirme system was the main method of manning the janissary army. This was no simple conscription. It required an intense process of identity formation that transformed adolescent Christian boys into Muslim warriors fighting for Islam and the sultan. The training that the boys and young men received was composed of several aspects, including coerced labor, disciplined and harsh physical training, the learning of Turkish and Islamic practices, and a mental formation that would give them a certain perception of their manhood. This article examines these prominent components of janissary training. First, it investigates the function of coerced labor in the boys’ transformation, followed by a discussion of the centrality of structured and intensive training with weapons to become professional warriors. Second, it examines the masculine identity formed by the communal way of life in the barracks as soldiers and by notions of military prowess, brotherhood, and comrade solidarity that were strengthened through Bektashism. These dynamics are investigated through an examination of archival sources, chronicles, travelers’ writings, and poems by janissary poets.
Agutter, Karen; Kevin, Catherine
From Forced to Coerced Labour: Displaced Mothers and Teen Girls in Post-World War II Australia Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 256-268, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, australia, gender, war
@article{nokey,
title = {From Forced to Coerced Labour: Displaced Mothers and Teen Girls in Post-World War II Australia},
author = {Karen Agutter and Catherine Kevin},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {256-268},
abstract = {At the end of World War Two 1.2 million people were officially labelled Displaced Persons (DPs). Stateless, or refusing to return home, the majority were resettled in other countries including Australia which, like most receiving nations, saw these refugees primarily as a labour force for post-war economic recovery and expansion. However, unlike other nations, DPs destined for Australia signed a work contract which committed them to two years of assigned labour after arrival. This paper considers two specific subsets of these DPs, the ‘unsupported mothers’ (single, widowed, and divorced mothers with young children) and female unaccompanied teenagers. It illuminates the intersections of gender and displacement on the labour status of female DPs in post-war Australia and traces the continuities of coerced labour in their experiences of war and migration. We argue that the early life of female DPs in Australia provides an example of a continuum of forced and coerced labour which had begun under the shadow of war in Nazi Germany and continued after migration.},
keywords = {20th century, australia, gender, war},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
At the end of World War Two 1.2 million people were officially labelled Displaced Persons (DPs). Stateless, or refusing to return home, the majority were resettled in other countries including Australia which, like most receiving nations, saw these refugees primarily as a labour force for post-war economic recovery and expansion. However, unlike other nations, DPs destined for Australia signed a work contract which committed them to two years of assigned labour after arrival. This paper considers two specific subsets of these DPs, the ‘unsupported mothers’ (single, widowed, and divorced mothers with young children) and female unaccompanied teenagers. It illuminates the intersections of gender and displacement on the labour status of female DPs in post-war Australia and traces the continuities of coerced labour in their experiences of war and migration. We argue that the early life of female DPs in Australia provides an example of a continuum of forced and coerced labour which had begun under the shadow of war in Nazi Germany and continued after migration.
Henshaw, Alexis
De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016) Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 2, pp. 269-286, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, colombia, contemporary, gender, latin america, military, war
@article{nokey,
title = {De-centering Dichotomies in Wartime Labor: Trajectories of Gender, Coercion, and Agency in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (1964-2016)},
author = {Alexis Henshaw},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {2},
pages = {269-286},
abstract = {Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.},
keywords = {20th century, colombia, contemporary, gender, latin america, military, war},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Labor history and international relations (IR) each offer insights regarding the extent to which women contribute to non-state armed groups and the value of their labor. Yet questions remain about how agency in joining armed movements – and, conversely, the forced participation of women – are operationalized and even fetishized by observers. Positivist empirical work in IR has operationalized agency and coercion as a dichotomy in gendered wartime labor, implying that where women’s labor is coerced it may have a lesser impact on the conduct of conflict or conflict outcomes. This paper challenges the existence of an agency-coercion binary, drawing on the case of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Analyzing archival sources in a manner informed by both feminist international relations and labor history scholarship, I show the complex interplay of agency and coercion in women’s lived experience within a non-state armed group. I further reflect on how a temporal understanding of labor relations, examining coercion and choice at the moments of entry, work, and exit, contributes to a more complete understanding of the gender dynamics of wartime labor.
Brooks, Emily
Coercive Patriotism: Gender, Militarism, and Auxiliary Police in New York City during World War II Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 287-303, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: gender, military, police, united states, war
@article{nokey,
title = {Coercive Patriotism: Gender, Militarism, and Auxiliary Police in New York City during World War II},
author = {Emily Brooks},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {287-303},
abstract = {This article explores the formation and operation of an auxiliary police agency, the City Patrol Corps, created by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in New York City during World War II. It mines the organization’s internal documents to argue that during the war New York City leaders coerced civilian men to serve in the auxiliary police force, which, in turn, exerted a coercive power over residents of the city. Both of these dynamics comprised part of a process of militarization and expanded criminalization in the city during the war, which was common in cities across the United States during these years, and which this article contends was justified through coercive patriotism. The article further explores the role of gender and race in informing New Yorkers’ motivations to join the City Patrol Corps, their experiences in the organization, and their perceptions of criminality and disorder. In the context of the war mobilization, city leaders argued that surveilling its streets and preventing crime and disorder was an essential component of the war effort. As La Guardia declared in 1940, ‘the maintenance of law and order in our large cities is one of the most important functions of our National Defense Program.’},
keywords = {gender, military, police, united states, war},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article explores the formation and operation of an auxiliary police agency, the City Patrol Corps, created by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in New York City during World War II. It mines the organization’s internal documents to argue that during the war New York City leaders coerced civilian men to serve in the auxiliary police force, which, in turn, exerted a coercive power over residents of the city. Both of these dynamics comprised part of a process of militarization and expanded criminalization in the city during the war, which was common in cities across the United States during these years, and which this article contends was justified through coercive patriotism. The article further explores the role of gender and race in informing New Yorkers’ motivations to join the City Patrol Corps, their experiences in the organization, and their perceptions of criminality and disorder. In the context of the war mobilization, city leaders argued that surveilling its streets and preventing crime and disorder was an essential component of the war effort. As La Guardia declared in 1940, ‘the maintenance of law and order in our large cities is one of the most important functions of our National Defense Program.’
Barton, Deborah
‘A Female Voice is Instrumental’: Gender, Propaganda, and Coerced Labor on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945 Journal Article
In: Labor History, vol. 64, iss. 3, pp. 304-320, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, gender, germany, military, soviet union, war
@article{nokey,
title = {‘A Female Voice is Instrumental’: Gender, Propaganda, and Coerced Labor on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945},
author = {Deborah Barton},
editor = {Julia Heinemann and Christine de Matos and Fia Sundevall and Anders Ahlbäck},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
issuetitle = {Gender, War and Coerced Labor},
journal = {Labor History},
volume = {64},
issue = {3},
pages = {304-320},
abstract = {This article examines the role of local, female propagandists utilized by the German army on the Eastern Front during WWII. Although the work they undertook aligned with postwar notions of collaboration, the propagandists’ experiences at the hands of the Wehrmacht, in a context of a violent war and repressive occupation, constitutes coerced labour in multiple forms. Regardless of the women’s motivations for working for the Wehrmacht, they entered a relationship of domination and dependence with the occupation force. While female propagandists numbered far fewer than their male counterparts, they held a particular importance for German high command who believed that their “feminine” traits, such as empathy and charm, helped the Wehrmacht influence and control the largely female civilian population. At the same time, their work on the frontlines encouraging Red Army soldiers to defect crossed traditional gender boundaries. In this task too, the women were valued for their gender with German authorities believing that Soviet soldiers, largely deprived of female contact, would be particularly receptive to the charm of a woman’s voice. Such coerced labor on behalf of the Wehrmacht rendered these women vulnerable not only to German violence, but also to Soviet accusations of collaboration and its associated reprisals.},
keywords = {20th century, gender, germany, military, soviet union, war},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article examines the role of local, female propagandists utilized by the German army on the Eastern Front during WWII. Although the work they undertook aligned with postwar notions of collaboration, the propagandists’ experiences at the hands of the Wehrmacht, in a context of a violent war and repressive occupation, constitutes coerced labour in multiple forms. Regardless of the women’s motivations for working for the Wehrmacht, they entered a relationship of domination and dependence with the occupation force. While female propagandists numbered far fewer than their male counterparts, they held a particular importance for German high command who believed that their “feminine” traits, such as empathy and charm, helped the Wehrmacht influence and control the largely female civilian population. At the same time, their work on the frontlines encouraging Red Army soldiers to defect crossed traditional gender boundaries. In this task too, the women were valued for their gender with German authorities believing that Soviet soldiers, largely deprived of female contact, would be particularly receptive to the charm of a woman’s voice. Such coerced labor on behalf of the Wehrmacht rendered these women vulnerable not only to German violence, but also to Soviet accusations of collaboration and its associated reprisals.
2016
Kučera, Rudolf
Rationed Life. Science, Everyday Life, and Working-Class Politics in the Bohemian Lands, 1914–1918 Book
2016.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, bohemian lands, war, working class
@book{nokey,
title = {Rationed Life. Science, Everyday Life, and Working-Class Politics in the Bohemian Lands, 1914–1918},
author = {Rudolf Kučera},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-10-01},
abstract = {Far from the battlefront, hundreds of thousands of workers toiled in Bohemian factories over the course of World War I, and their lives were inescapably shaped by the conflict. In particular, they faced new and dramatic forms of material hardship that strained social ties and placed in sharp relief the most mundane aspects of daily life, such as when, what, and with whom to eat. The book reconstructs the experience of the Bohemian working class during the Great War through explorations of four basic spheres—food, labor, gender, and protest—that comprise a case study in early twentieth-century social history.
},
keywords = {20th century, bohemian lands, war, working class},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {book}
}
Far from the battlefront, hundreds of thousands of workers toiled in Bohemian factories over the course of World War I, and their lives were inescapably shaped by the conflict. In particular, they faced new and dramatic forms of material hardship that strained social ties and placed in sharp relief the most mundane aspects of daily life, such as when, what, and with whom to eat. The book reconstructs the experience of the Bohemian working class during the Great War through explorations of four basic spheres—food, labor, gender, and protest—that comprise a case study in early twentieth-century social history.