Jane Gray is Lecturer in Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and Research Associate at the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis.

This is an important study by a historical sociologist of the role of gender in protoindustrial Ireland. Gray looks carefully at family structures and how they change, and how they determine and affect strategies for dealing with rapidly changing opportunities in a declining economy. In Ireland there was a striking gender-based division of labor between spinning (women's work) and weaving (men's work) but these boundaries came under pressure and were contested. In addition to the data on Irish households in the protoindustrial districts, she is able to draw on anthropological studies from other places and times to illuminate her argument.

• Chapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Trade, Markets, ProductionChapter 3 DevelopmentChapter 4 Local ContextsChapter 5 The Household ArenaChapter 6 Paths to Industrial CapitalismChapter 7 ConclusionChapter 8 Appendix 1. The 1821 Cavan SampleChapter 9 Appendix 2. The Poets and the Poems

Jane Gray is Lecturer in Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and Research Associate at the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis.

This is an important study by a historical sociologist of the role of gender in protoindustrial Ireland. Gray looks carefully at family structures and how they change, and how they determine and affect strategies for dealing with rapidly changing opportunities in a declining economy. In Ireland there was a striking gender-based division of labor between spinning (women's work) and weaving (men's work) but these boundaries came under pressure and were contested. In addition to the data on Irish households in the protoindustrial districts, she is able to draw on anthropological studies from other places and times to illuminate her argument.

• Chapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Trade, Markets, ProductionChapter 3 DevelopmentChapter 4 Local ContextsChapter 5 The Household ArenaChapter 6 Paths to Industrial CapitalismChapter 7 ConclusionChapter 8 Appendix 1. The 1821 Cavan SampleChapter 9 Appendix 2. The Poets and the Poems

Jane Gray is Lecturer in Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and Research Associate at the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis.

This is an important study by a historical sociologist of the role of gender in protoindustrial Ireland. Gray looks carefully at family structures and how they change, and how they determine and affect strategies for dealing with rapidly changing opportunities in a declining economy. In Ireland there was a striking gender-based division of labor between spinning (women's work) and weaving (men's work) but these boundaries came under pressure and were contested. In addition to the data on Irish households in the protoindustrial districts, she is able to draw on anthropological studies from other places and times to illuminate her argument.

• Chapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Trade, Markets, ProductionChapter 3 DevelopmentChapter 4 Local ContextsChapter 5 The Household ArenaChapter 6 Paths to Industrial CapitalismChapter 7 ConclusionChapter 8 Appendix 1. The 1821 Cavan SampleChapter 9 Appendix 2. The Poets and the Poems