Christoph Hermann Capitalism and the Political Economy of Work Time. [Routledge frontiers of political economy, vol. 190.] Routledge, Abingdon 2014. 236 pp. Ill. £85.00.

Abstract

Using a variety of sources and detailed information at both an individual and a collective level, Zancarini succeeds in writing a history of the agency of the "subaltern classes" in the broadest sense "from below". Her approach is predetermined, however, by the example set by Zinn's A People's History of the United States, and by a political interpretation of Gramsci's concept of "subaltern classes", summarized in the binary opposition of "dominance" and "resistance". 6 Zancarini is well aware that "one does not strike all the time, demonstrate all the time, or revolt all the time". She asserts that she tried to show the continuity of the daily life of the people, but also admits that she is not certain "if she succeeded in doing so in every chapter". 7 Indeed, a "people's history" that would address daily life in social relations at work, earning a living, family life, social and geographical mobility, and the life course would have resulted in a more complete, but also a completely different book.