Red Flags and Lace Coiffes

Charles R. Menzies is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia and Director of the Ethnographic Film Unit. He is director of an accompanying film about the Breton fishery, Face a la Tempete-Weather the Storm (Bullfrog Films, 2008) and editor of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Natural Resource Management (University of Nebraska Press, 2006).

Red Flags and Lace Coiffes delivers the goods when it comes to providing an in-depth account of the advent of the artisanal fishery from the perspective of production. It employs a variety of data sources to inquire into the roles of social class, gender, and kinship in sustaining the fishery. In addition, the author's work experience as a fisher allows him to succinctly identify key aspects of Bigouden marine ecology and the ever improving industrial foraging technologies that make fishing possible and economically viable in the region. - Anthropologica

• List of Figures and Tables Preface Introduction Situating the Field Where is the Bigoudennie? Part One: A Local Politics of Survival 1. Social Struggle at "la fin de siècle" Night of Fire On to Crisis Days of Protest The Impact of the Crisis on Everyday Life Neo-Liberal Globalization and Social Conflict Conclusion 2. Symbols of Struggle: Red Flags, Lace Coiffes, and Social Class Strikes and Demonstrations Putting Food on the Table Symbols of the Strikes and Demonstrations Lace Coiffes and Industrial Work Conclusion Part Two: The Material Conditions of the Everyday 3. Episode, Not Epoch: Building Capitalism in the Hinterland From Peasant to Worker The Rise of the Trawl Fishery Social Relations of Production Conclusion 4. Working at Sea A Day at Sea Skippers, Crews, and the Family at Sea Work First! Eat Later: Social Class at Sea Social Class and the Artisanal Fishing Experience The Development of the Bigouden Fishing Fleet Boats and their General Characteristics Conclusion 5. Working Ashore Fishermen and Women in Fishing Communities: A Global Overview Women's Work and Fishing in the Bigoudennie Socio-economic Differences and Women's Work Conclusion 6. The Difference a Family Makes Luc and Martine Kernevad Gilbert and Catherine Bazhad Families and the Maintenance of Property Conclusion The Argument The Future of the Bigouden Fishery Glossary References Index