War Work: Race, Gender, Empire, and Labor in World War I
AHA Session 236
Labor and Working Class History Association 6
Labor and Working Class History Association 6
Sunday, January 4, 2015: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
Nassau Suite B (New York Hilton, Second Floor)
Chair:
Chad Williams, Brandeis University
Topics:
Session Abstract
We all have read the grand narratives of the First World War. We also all have heard of the legendary tales of the white male elites during the war. This roundtable, however, casts a spotlight onto the oftentimes forgotten men and women who contributed to the war—laborers from China, Egypt, Indochina, Madagascar, and North Africa, as well as American female entertainers. Their lives tell different, but important stories about the war.
Each participant in this roundtable tackles one aspect of the lived experience of these people. The first presentation focuses on the laborers from the French colonial empire who worked in Europe, examining the racial prejudices that they encountered and how prevailing French ideas about race decisively shaped their experiences in the war. The second presentation of the roundtable focuses on one individual group, American female entertainers, depicting the recreational work that they did during the war. This paper gives voice to women and explores the gender dimensions of wartime experiences. The third presentation focuses on the Egyptian Labor Corps in the British army working in France. By analyzing the photographs taken of them, this presentation visualizes the lives of Egyptian laborers and the imprint they left on the mind of contemporary historians who seek to make sense of their wartime experience. The fourth and final presentation narrates the interactions between two groups of laborers, Chinese and North Africans brought together by the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Their unexpected encounters reveal not only the intricate inter-racial dimensions among the labor groups, but also the spatiotemporal mediations of world powers of the time and a major world historical event in moving people’s life trajectories.
These marginalized groups endured physical hardship, racial discrimination, and moral judgment. And yet they survived. By exploring their experiences, their sometimes idealistic aspirations and mundane quarrels, this roundtable seeks to draw a multi-layered portrait of the ordinary lives during the Great War. Panelists use different genres of evidence to reconstruct their narratives, with both textual documents and visual representations. Each presentation will be brief, of approximately 10 minutes, seeking to pose suggestive questions for both the panel and the audience to consider. We hope that this roundtable will generate lively discussions about an overlooked facet of the war.
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