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Dissertation Information for Alexander Josef Auerbach

NAME:
- Alexander Josef Auerbach

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (2001)

ADVISORS:
- Margot C Finn

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Kathryn E Amdur
- Heide Fehrenbach

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: "In the courts and alleys": The enforcement of the laws on children's education and labor in London, 1870--1904

Abstract: This dissertation examines the contested enforcement of public policy in Victorian London. It focuses on the implementation of the laws on children's education and labor by the officials of the London School Board, the enforcement of the laws in the courts, and the response of working-class men and women to the laws. This study furthers our understanding of class and gender relations in Victorian Britain, how the law and the courts function in society, the nature of the Victorian state, and women's roles as the representatives of their households in negotiations with state agents.

This investigation addresses two aspects of Victorian state reform that have received very little attention from scholars and yet are essential in understanding the development of British politics and society in the nineteenth century. The first aspect of reform that I examine is the daily negotiations between school officials and working-class parents over children's work and children's school attendance. These negotiations set the parameters for the authority of the state and the autonomy of working-class parents. The second aspect of reform that I examine is how the new laws on children's schooling and labor were enforced in the law courts. All those involved in education law cases, parents, school officials, and magistrates, argued over children's roles in the household and community, domestic gender roles, and the right of the state to intervene in working-class family life. The execution of reform was strongly influenced by class and gender bias and, at the same time, the contest over the new laws helped redefine class and gender relations in Victorian society.

Most of the source material used in this dissertation comes from archival collections in the U.K. The primary archival sources used are the records of the London School Board and the records of the London police courts and petty sessions, both of which are held at the London Metropolitan Archives. In addition to these sources, I make extensive use of magistrates' autobiographies and school officials' informal chronicles of their work in Britain's working-class urban communities. The archival source material is supplemented by contemporary education periodicals, tracts on education and compulsory attendance, and parliamentary papers.
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MPACT Scores for Alexander Josef Auerbach

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-02-02 22:16:59

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Students under Alexander Josef Auerbach

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None