Published
Jul 25, 2024Page count
240 pagesISBN
978-1447369622Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Jul 25, 2024Page count
240 pagesISBN
978-1447369615Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Jul 25, 2024Page count
240 pagesISBN
978-1447369639Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Jul 25, 2024Page count
240 pagesISBN
978-1447369639Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy Press
The Science of Housework
In an era of pandemic infection, the importance of hygiene at home and in public spaces has never been greater. This book recaptures the buried history of the household science movement, including domestic science teaching, public health, higher education for women and the scientific content and aims of domestic science courses. It explores how it was viewed in the context of new public health concerns and as a driver to opening higher education to women, raising questions about the legacy and modern relevance of the household science movement.
"In this impressive, very readable account Ann Oakley reveals the important reality that domestic science was first developed from the 1880s, mainly by women discovering how cleaning the home of germ-laden dust and cooking nutritious food profoundly improved health and survival. They created a new scientific career for women, until it was dismissed by male academics in the 1950s and all forgotten." Patricia M. Thane, Birkbeck College London
“Ann Oakley has uncovered the fascinating story of efforts to establish domestic science as a legitimate academic subject, once again bringing to bear her trademark perceptiveness, commitment, rigour and humour.” Graham Crow, University of Edinburgh
Ann Oakley is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the UCL Social Research Institute. A social researcher for 60 years, and author of many academic publications, she is also well known for her biography, autobiography and fiction. Her books include The Sociology of Housework, From Here to Maternity and The Men's Room which was serialised by the BBC in 1991, and most recently Forgotten Wives (Policy Press, 2021).
Prologue: My life in housework
1. Introduction: From the sociology to the science of housework
2. Gender and germs: housework today
3. Teaching girls about housework
4. Sweeping science into the home
5. This man-made world
6. Lectures for ladies
7. Alice through the cooking class
8. Transatlantic experiments
9. Sources of power
10. White subjects: domestic science in the colonies and other places
11. Legacies and meanings
Appendix: List of characters
