This historical and sociological book makes the argument that, for about 90 years following the rise of steam-powered industry in the United States, low-to moderate-income households continued to rely on extensive informal, non-waged work to supplement low wages. As households became more dependent on wages earned by higher-paid adult males and on the consumption of market goods, informal work and local markets organized by working people began to decline. Dickinson documents this process of transformation through archival research, as well as by reviewing secondary materials. The consequences of the long-term transformation of work are examined in relation to contemporary social identity movements and policy choices. Using historical analysis, CommonWealth also shows how the gender hierarchy was transformed; it demonstrates how the "postmodernist" and post-structuralist gender categories came onto the historical stage in an urban-industrial region. Social change is looked at through informal relations and networks that center around non-waged or informal work, institutions and structures as they relate to wage labor and the state, and social change efforts initiated at the grassroots and "state" or policy levels.

This book concerns the largest and costliest element of vehicular traffic in United States cities, the travel to and from places of em­ployment—the "journey to work." By reason of its sheer volume, and also because of its concentration within a few hours of the day, this rush-hour travel presents to planners and engineers critical problems relating to the location and capacity needs of streets and highways, and transit and parking facilities. The patterns of work trips also comprise important determinants of maximum reasonable distances between residential areas and the dusters of commercial and industrial enterprise. This monograph presents analytical approaches to the study of the journey to work—primarily in development of the patterns of its time and scale characteristics. Such patterns are considered in relation to population size of cities, and in terms of their apparent changes and factors for change over the years. The approaches discussed are those of interest to technicians working in the prevalent low budget; high time­-pressure situation. Examples are analyzed from data of several United States cities, particularly Philadelphia, and broad general conclusions are drawn from the case studies. Supplemented by numerous diagrams and numerical tables, Structuring the journey to Work will be of interest to traffic engineers, city and regional planners, urban geographers, and industrial and residential site selectors. It will have some interest as well for professionals in land economics and labor market analysis.