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Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900
The night represents almost universally a special, liminal or "out
of the ordinary" temporal zone with its own meanings, possibilities
and dangers, and political, cultural, religious and social
implications. Only in the modern era was the night systematically
"colonised" and nocturnal activity "normalised," in terms of
(industrial) labour and production processes. Although the
globalised 24/7 economy is usually seen as the outcome of
capitalist modernisation, development and expansion starting in the
late nineteenth century, other consecutive and more recent
political and economic systems adopted perpetual production systems
as well, extending work into the night and forcing workers to work
the "night shift," normalising it as part of an alternative
non-capitalist modernity. This volume draws attention to the
extended work hours and night shift work, which have remained
underexplored in the history of labour and the social science
literature. By describing and comparing various political and
economic "regimes," it argues that, from the viewpoint of global
labour history, night labour and the spread of 24/7 production and
services should not be seen, only and exclusively, as an
epiphenomenon of capitalist production, but rather as one of the
outcomes of industrial modernity.
This book traces the history of the development, abandonment, and
eventual revival of George Washington's original vision for a grand
national capital on the Potomac. In 1791 Washington's ideas found
form in architect Peter Charles L'Enfant's plans for the city. Yet
the unprecedented scope of the plan; reliance on the sale of city
lots to fund construction of the city and the public buildings; the
actions of unscrupulous land speculators; and the convoluted
mixture of state, local, and federal authority in effect in the
District all undermined Federalist hopes for creating a substantial
national capital. In an era when the federal government had
relatively few responsibilities, the tangible intersections of
ideology and policy were felt through the construction,
development, and oversight of the federal city. During the
Washington and Adams administrations, for example, Federalists
lacked the funds, the political will, and the administrative
capacity to make their hopes for the capital a reality. Across much
of the next three decades, Thomas Jefferson and other Jeffersonian
politicians stifled the growth of the city by withholding funding
and support for any project not directly related to the workings of
the government. After decades of stagnation, only the more
pragmatic approach begun in the Jacksonian era succeeded in
fostering development in the District. And throughout these
decades, driven by a mixture of self-interest and national pride,
local leaders worked to make Washington's vision a reality and to
earn the respect of the nation. George Washington's Washington is
not simply a history of the city during the first president's life
but a history of his vision for the national capital and of the
local and national conflicts surrounding this vision's acceptance
and implementation.
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