'The true social molecule'. Industrialization, paternalism and the family. Half a century in Le Creusot (1836-86)

Jérôme Bourdieu () and Lionel Kesztenbaum
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Jérôme Bourdieu: PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: There is little doubt that both urbanization and industrialization changed the way people live and interact. However, even though family structure has long been considered as the best indicator of the changes induced, little is known, empirically, about its evolution. We take advantage of a large dataset of matched censuses in a fast industrializing city to investigate how families function in a new environment. We show that family formation confronted two structural forces: the sheer numbers of migrants and the company that dominated the labor market. The company tried to promote a new family model by allowing only some kinds of migrants, selected through housing and labor, to settle in the city. Many aspects of their lives were thus constrained by the firm's paternalistic organization. This process did not occur without resistance but it contributed to the integration of migrants in the city of Le Creusot.

Keywords: France; Industrialization; 19th century; Household; Family; Paternalism; Family formation; Family structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-03
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Published in The History of the Family, 2014, 19 (1), pp.53-76. ⟨10.1080/1081602X.2013.827988⟩

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Working Paper: 'The true social molecule'. Industrialization, paternalism and the family. Half a century in Le Creusot (1836-86) (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00978456

DOI: 10.1080/1081602X.2013.827988

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