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Jessica Peixotto, ahome economist notthrilled by thethrift culture Juliette Blayac2023 год

Jessica Peixotto, a home economist not thrilled by the thrift culture
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Аннотация: AbstractThe values of thrift have shaped the cultural and economic history of the United States. This morality advocates the practice of industry, frugality, self-sacrifice, and the accumulation of savings as a means of enriching the individual and society. From the 19th century to the early 20th century, American political economists preached these virtues. Jessica Peixotto (1864-1941), the first woman professor of economics at Berkeley, conducted a study of the cost of living of a group of university professors in 1927. She considered them an extremely thrifty but relatively poor social group. The purpose of this article is to explain this contradiction put forward by Peixotto. I examine how, in the early 20th century, the thrift culture took a practical turn with the Home Economics movement founded by Ellen H. Richards to educate women. Peixotto's study shows that professors' wives apply the precepts of thrift very well, making exemplary management of household resources. Thus, the problem lies in the low level of faculty salary. I argue that Peixotto shows an original point of view, linking thrift to poverty and thinking about the consequences of a thrifty ethos on the negotiation skills of university professors.Keywords: ThriftPeixottohome economicsconsumptionprofessorswomenJEL codes: B10B25B54N32 Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Professor in the singular is gendered masculine in the rest of the article as in Peixotto's study, reflecting a social reality of the time. It should be pointed out, however, that Peixotto was not the only female professor; many others held university positions and were active in academic associations, including economic ones (May and Dimand Citation2019).2 Her thesis is entitled "The French Revolution and Modern French Socialism: A Comparative Study of the Principles of the French Revolution and the Doctrines of Modern French Socialism" (Citation1901).3 Other non-economic British works have influenced American thinking. Peixotto mentions "the Smilesian paths of thrift" (Peixotto Citation1927, 36) that the professors follow. It refers to the famous English thrift' preacher Samuel Smiles (1812–1904), author of Self-Help (1859) and Thrift (Citation1875). In the preface to the latter, he wrote, "Thrift is the basis of Self-help, and the foundation of much that is excellent in Character." (Smiles Citation1859, 5).4 Smith acknowledged the economic success of such behavior but warned of the consequences of perpetual work and frugality on happiness (Leloup Citation2002, 81).5 To read more about the economic side of the conservation movement, see Vianna Franco and Missemer (Citation2022).6 Surprisingly, in this chapter, he never refereed to Child (Citation1829).7 For more information on the biography and work of Kyrk see Hirschfeld (Citation1997), Van Velzen (Citation2003), Le Tollec (Citation2020), Becchio (Citation2020) and Philippy, Betancourt and Dimand (Citation2023) in the special issue of RHETM to be published end of 2023.8 See "Committees for 1929" (Citation1929); "Committees for 1930" (Citation1930); "Committees for 1931" (Citation1931); "Committees for 1932" (Citation1932) and "Committees for 1933" (Citation1933).
Год издания: 2023
Авторы: Juliette Blayac
Издательство: Taylor & Francis
Источник: European Journal of the History of Economic Thought
Ключевые слова: Political Economy and Marxism, Australian History and Society, Architecture, Design, and Social History
Другие ссылки: European Journal of the History of Economic Thought (HTML)
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) (PDF)
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) (HTML)
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) (HTML)