Worktown
Subtitle: the astonishing story of the birth of Mass-Observation
By: David Hall
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 2015
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 323
ISBN-13: 9780297871682
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Social conditions; Social surveys; History; Working class; Society; Ökonomische Anthropologie; Sozialgeschichte; Mass-Observation (Firm); Mass-Observation Ltd
Other titles: Work town
Description: "In the late 1930s the Lancashire town of Bolton witnessed a ground-breaking social experiment. Over three years, a team of ninety observers recorded, in painstaking detail, the everyday lives of ordinary working people at work and play - in the pub, dance hall, factory and on holiday. Their aim was to create an 'anthropology of ourselves'. The first of its kind, it later grew into the Mass Observation movement that proved so crucial to our understanding of public opinion in future generations. The project attracted a cast of larger-than-life characters, not least its founders, the charismatic and unconventional anthropologist Tom Harrisson and the surrealist intellectuals Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings. They were joined by a disparate band of men and women - students, artists, writers and photographers, unemployed workers and local volunteers - who worked tirelessly to turn the idle pleasure of people-watching into a science ..."--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Going native; title: Anthropology at home; title: You don't ask a bird any questions; title: Where cotton was king; title: The coronation; title: Across the class divide; title: The secret photographer; title: A day in the life; title: Health, housing and politics; title: Politics and the non-voter; title: The pub and the people; title: Snoopers; title: Worktown women; title: Pinch the sermon; title: Compromised; title: A night on town; title: Art and the ordinary chap; title: Arrivals and departures; title: Sleeping with the natives; title: Skirmishes and battles.