The political economy of leisure in retrospect: Britain, France and the origins of the eight-hour day

ISSN： 1466-4496

Source： Leisure Studies, Vol.5, Iss.1, 1986-01, pp. : 69-90

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Abstract

This paper explores the intellectual and socio-political origins of the twentieth century standard for allocating personal time: the eight-hour day. Between the 1880s and 1919, a political economy justifying increased leisure emerged and a coalition of reformers, aided by the political crisis of postwar Europe, won the eight-hour norm. The paper analyses the resistance to increased leisure and compares the British and French paths to the eight-hour day. While the economic motive for the reduced workday is stressed, the paper also notes the emergence of a modern leisure ethic. Labour demands for the eight-hour day comprised not only the goals of increasing wages and employment but also a desire for regular and predictable blocks of time free from the work environment for family and leisure pursuits.