Gender and the Politics of Office Work in the Netherlands, 1860-1940

This case-study of a fast-growing segment of the labor market examines the meaning of office work for women: their prolonged struggle to be admitted to the unions, the role of the Schoevers Institute—the Dutch Katharine Gibbs School—in shaping the occupation of secretary, the conservative backlash against female office workers between the two world wars, and finally, the way these women look back on their time in the office, including their experiences of sexual harassment.


Gender and the Politics of Office Work in the Netherlands, 1860-1940 is a revised and abridged version of Sekse op kantoor. Over vrouwelijkheid, mannelijkheid en macht, Nederland 1860-1940 (Hilversum 1992), winner of the prestigious academic prize of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation.