Introduction

The period of the Industrial Revolution is often remembered for the steam engine, mechanized factories and dramatic economic changes. But in fact, it also brought about dramatic shifts in gender roles, labor expectations, and social hierarchies. For many women, industrialization brought with it both the opportunity to enter paid work, while also exposing them to exploitative conditions and rigid gender norms.

Prior to the rise of industrial capitalism, women were mostly confined to domestic work and the informal economy. The arrival of the factory system reshaped their lives, but also placed them in environments where long working hours, low wages, and health risks were prevalent. The good news is that working class women did not remain passive. They have responded to their plight with resilience across class and national boundaries, organizing strikes, forming labor reform associations, and speaking out for their basic rights.

Our blog Voices from the Factory Floor focuses on women's experiences in the Industrial Revolution from six perspectives: from traditional pre-industrial roles to hard labor in factories; from the impact of class disparities to the potential for health risks; to how women organized resistance and pushed for reform, and the far-reaching legacy of these efforts.

Through these stories, we hope to show how the resilience, ingenuity, and action of ordinary women in the midst of the current of their times sowed the seeds of social change that followed.

Return to Main Page