The agricultural labourer and the "Hodge" stereotype, c.1850-1914

Freeman, M. (2001) The agricultural labourer and the "Hodge" stereotype, c.1850-1914. Agricultural History Review, 49(2), pp. 172-186.

Abstract

This article examines the stereotyping of the agricultural labourer as 'Hodge' in the nineteenth century, showing how the changing economic, social and political position of the labourers affected the ways in which they were represented in the social investigations and rural literature of the period. It is argued that the stereotype changed significantly in the 188os and 189os, and although it had largely fallen out of use by the 19oos, many of the attributes that made it up did in fact persist into the later period. The label Hodge was rarely used without being subject to contestation from labourers themselves and their spokesmen, and this article shows how it became a potent weapon in the social and political conflicts that characterized rural England in this period.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The British Agricultural History Society is pleased to be able to make freely available searchable versions of backnumbers of the Agricultural History Review more than five years old.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Freeman, Dr Mark
• Authors: Freeman, M.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Journal Name: Agricultural History Review
• ISSN: 0002-1490