In the modern era, the rise of industry, the birth of workers, and the rapid influx of population led to the formation of new industrial communities, which in turn caused a reorganization of “life” and “labor” according to a logic and system different than those that had previously obtained. The purpose of this study is to focus on this reorganization process and to clarify how work and life were understood, and by whom, and what position they occupied in the newly prevailing logic and systems. The research examines Japan and America during the Industrial Revolution.

Principally, the study examines who organized the “life” and “labor” of workers and how the reproduction of labor was accomplished. Specifically, it analyzes three categories of historical material : (1) Japanese “factory statistics”, historical materials from textile factories, and surveys by prefectural bureaus on social matters ; (2) the historical documents of textile factories in Lowell, Massachusetts, and of the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union, Boston (WEIU) ; (3) Life and Labor, the journal of the National Women’s Union Trade League established in 1903.

Chapter II focuses on the formation of industrial areas in modern Japan and clarifies their regional characteristics. It reconstructs the world of daily life of male and female workers, notably in Tokyo’s Fukagawa district. Chapter Ⅲ considers the different factors among men and women influencing the reorganization of life and labor in modern Japan, focusing on historical changes in the lives of female workers.

Chapters Ⅳ and Ⅴ examines textile production areas in the state of Massachusetts in 18th‒ and 19th‒century America. Comparing these cases with those of Japanese female workers in their factories, the paper analyzes the world of women working in Lowell’s textile factories (Chapter Ⅳ). Next, it discusses changes in the labor market and local communities beginning in the mid‒19th century, when the number of migrant workers increased due to the women’s labor movement (Chapter Ⅴ).

Based on this research on Japan and the United States, Chapter Ⅵ shows that the actors who reorganized workers’ lives and work differed in the two cases. A discussion follows of the background for these differences, and the paper concludes with a presentation of the significance of and prospects for discussing “living” as an aspect of political‒economic history.

The purpose of this study is to perform dynamic analyses of the relationship between corporate society during the high‒growth period of the Japanese economy and modern family (homemakers) in order to identify the connection between labor‒force reproduction and lifestyle. This paper analyzes “Nittsu Dayori”, the internal newsletters published by Nippon Express Co., Ltd. and “Nittsu Rodo”, its labor’s press. “Nittsu Dayori” describes the ideal images of its employees and their wives. It also demands that wives should manage family life, paying attention to such areas as the safety of husband, their health, and hygiene, understanding the company business, and taking care of children’s education, family health, hygiene, and housework. One of the messages posted in “Nittsu Dayori” by a homemaker pictures her efforts to please her husband who is tired from work and in a bad mood.The asymmetric image of husband and wife is also shown in “Nittsu Rodo”. Housewife norms and her daily practice in life played an important role in labor‒force reproduction during the high‒growth period of the Japanese economy, and remains to a great extent in current Japanese society.

The social and economic history of Germany in the first half of the 19^th century is marked by industrialization and the development of liberalism not only in the field of politics, but also in the area of economics. The idea of economic liberalism, coupled with the economic theory of Adam Smith, was supported by German economists and applied by them to the actual issues faced by their country. Most of them insisted on the emancipation of the peasantry from the feudal order and the reform of the traditional handicraft system under the monopoly by guilds. M. E. Vopelius argued in her study “Die altliberalen Ökonomen und die Reformzeit” (1968) that German economists influenced by the writings of Adam Smith ‒ the economists of the German Classical School ‒ paid attention not only to economic theories, but also to the real problems in their country, arguing for the abolition of the traditional obstacles that made industrial development difficult in Germany.

Influenced by this general survey by Vopelius, this article analyses the social and economic views of the German Classical School through their theoretical framework on the eve of the March Revolution (1848‒49), focusing on the works of Carl Wolfgang Christoph v. Schüz (1811‒1875). He taught “national economy” (Nationalökonomie) as a professor at the University of Tübingen, and in 1843 published a textbook, Grundsätze der National‒Ökonomie, and wrote noteworthy articles in the journal of his university, „Zeitschrift für die gesammte Staatswissenschaft.” This study examines the influence of the English Classical School on his theories, particularly regarding the significance of the production of goods for the country, the important role of the labour for this, the exchange of commodities on the market, and the price of products based on the cost of production. As did other economists of the School, he connected his theoretical framework with the principle of economic liberalism, which was considered an important factor for the development of production.

This article opens with an investigation into Schüz’s idea of the “freedom of industry” (Gewerbefreiheit) combined with his analysis of the traditional obstacles in agriculture and handicrafts in Germany at that time, by which he argued for the emancipation of peasantry from the feudalism and for the reform of the guild system. His theory of “national economy” did not separate out economic theory and analyses of actual issues, but rather related them. As did other contemporary economists in Germany, Schüz also did not overlook the harmful effects of unlimited industrialization. This study concludes with an analysis of Schüz’s critical views against the policy of laissez‒faire liberalism. Schüz’s acceptance of the protectionism asserted by Friedrich List, who criticized the theory of Adam Smith, was connected with his assumption that the method of economics should include political and ethical elements into the Nationalökonomie. Consequently, he should be considered a forerunner of the German Historical School that developed after the revolution.