Description |
1 online resource (xvii, 292 pages) |
Series |
Cambridge historical studies in American law and society |
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Cambridge historical studies in American law and society.
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Contents |
Introduction : Injuries And Abstractions -- Commodification and Recognition within the Tyranny of the Trial -- Injury Impoverished -- Suffering and the Price of Life and Limb -- Suffering and the Price of Life and Limb -- Trampler and Tramped on in the Cherry Mine Fire -- The Disabling Power of Law and Market -- Insuring Injustice -- Discrimination Technicians and Human Weeding -- Resistance and Aftermath -- Coda: Narrative, Machinery, Law |
Summary |
"The late nineteenth and early twentieth century U.S. economy maimed and killed employees at an astronomically high rate, while the legal system left the injured and their loved ones with little recourse. In the 1910s, U.S. states enacted workers' compensation laws, which required employers to pay a portion of the financial costs of workplace injuries. This book uses a range of archival materials, interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, and compelling narration to criticize the shortcomings of these laws. While compensation laws were a limited improvement in economic terms for employees, this book argues that these laws created new forms of inequality, by causing people with disabilities to lose their jobs, as well as new forms of inhumanity, by treating deeply personal suffering losses in an impersonal and economic manner. Ultimately the book raises questions about law and class, and about when and whether our economy and our legal system produce justice or injustice"-- Provided by publisher |
Notes |
Based on the author's thesis (doctoral - University of Minnesota, 2014) issued under title: 'The compensation law put us out of work' : workplace injury law, commodification, and discrimination in the early 20th century United States |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
Notes |
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on April 20, 2020) |
Subject |
Workers' compensation -- Law and legislation -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century
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Industrial accidents -- Law and legislation -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century
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United States
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Genre/Form |
History
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Form |
Electronic book
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LC no. |
2019051256 |
ISBN |
9781108657730 |
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1108657737 |
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