Sweatshop strife : class, ethnicity, and gender in the Jewish labour movement of Toronto 1900-1939 / Ruth A. Frager.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Frager has been able to gain access to original records that shed new light on an important chapter in Canadian ethnic, labour, and women's history.

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CHOICE Review

Historians are showing an ever-increasing interest in the links between class, ethnicity, and gender. Frager's chronicle of the Jewish labor movement in Toronto's garment industry illustrates the benefits of such an integrated approach. This thoroughly researched study draws on English and Yiddish sources from both oral and written records. Yiddish sources are not widely accessible to historians, and Frager's use of them adds substantial weight to her study. In addition to examining the evolution of working-class activism within the Jewish community, Frager assesses the importance of ethnic identity to this process. The main emphasis of her book, however, is on the often-ignored role of Jewish women in the labor movement. Frager combines an analysis of the social constraints faced by Jewish women in Canada with consideration of union policies. This provides the basis for detailed biographical profiles of four Jewish women who were active in the garment worker's labor movement. Frager's densely packed study will be of particular interest to labor historians. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty.