Abstract

Since the 1970s, labour has been a central theme in women’s history. Initially, the aim was to show that women have always worked, inside and outside the domestic sphere. At a later stage, the research has fruitfully reconstructed the varied spectrum of women’s activities, exploring the links between working status and socio-cultural gender construction. The wealth of studies today makes it possible to move towards a «new labour history» that includes gender among its categories of analysis.