Philanthropy and the “Management” of Working-Class Women: The West Gate Bridge Disaster

Humphrys, E; Gregson, S

Philanthropy and the “Management” of Working-Class Women: The West Gate Bridge Disaster

Humphrys, E Gregson, S

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Publisher:: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Labour History: a journal of labour and social history, 2020, 119, (1), pp. 143-172
Issue Date:: 2020-11-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Humphrys, E
dc.contributor.author	Gregson, S
dc.date.accessioned	2020-11-24T08:49:24Z
dc.date.available	2020-08-28
dc.date.available	2020-11-24T08:49:24Z
dc.date.issued	2020-11-01
dc.identifier.citation	Labour History: a journal of labour and social history, 2020, 119, (1), pp. 143-172
dc.identifier.issn	0023-6942
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/144331
dc.description.abstract	The West Gate Bridge collapse in 1970 is one of the worst industrial disasters in Australian history. Closely examined for the engineering lessons it provides, scholarly interest in its historical, social, and industrial import is far less extensive. This article examines the role of union leaders, employers, and a private welfare organisation called the Citizens Welfare Service (CWS) in the management of funds raised to support the victims and families of the disaster. More broadly, it reveals philanthropic attitudes and practices adopted to manage working families’ needs in the 1970s that were not altogether dissimilar from those of nineteenth-century philanthropists. Despite the families’ raw grief in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, “home visitors” from the CWS felt entitled to offer heavily gendered and class-based advice to widows about frugal budgeting, domestic order, and composed behaviour. The case management style employed by this welfare agency demonstrated a derivative commitment to capitalist mores that promoted hard work and thrift, while stigmatising welfare dependence.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Australian Society for the Study of Labour History
dc.relation.ispartof	Labour History: a journal of labour and social history
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3828/jlh.2020.22
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1503 Business and Management, 2103 Historical Studies, 2202 History and Philosophy of Specific Fields
dc.subject.classification	History
dc.title	Philanthropy and the “Management” of Working-Class Women: The West Gate Bridge Disaster
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	119
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
utslib.for	2103 Historical Studies
utslib.for	2202 History and Philosophy of Specific Fields
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of Communication
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2020-11-24T08:49:15Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	119
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

The West Gate Bridge collapse in 1970 is one of the worst industrial disasters in Australian history. Closely examined for the engineering lessons it provides, scholarly interest in its historical, social, and industrial import is far less extensive. This article examines the role of union leaders, employers, and a private welfare organisation called the Citizens Welfare Service (CWS) in the management of funds raised to support the victims and families of the disaster. More broadly, it reveals philanthropic attitudes and practices adopted to manage working families’ needs in the 1970s that were not altogether dissimilar from those of nineteenth-century philanthropists. Despite the families’ raw grief in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, “home visitors” from the CWS felt entitled to offer heavily gendered and class-based advice to widows about frugal budgeting, domestic order, and composed behaviour. The case management style employed by this welfare agency demonstrated a derivative commitment to capitalist mores that promoted hard work and thrift, while stigmatising welfare dependence.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/144331