Education, Travel and the 'Civilisation' of the Victorian Working Classes [Hardcover]

Examining four major institutions, Michele Strong considers the experiences of working men and women, particularly artisans, but also young apprentices and clerks, who travelled abroad as participants in an educational reform movement spearheaded by middle-class liberals.Introduction: Grand Tours and Workers' Tours: Rethinking Victorian Travel and Education 1. 'A True Agent of Civilisation': Travel and the 'Educational Idea' 2. Turning the 'Educational Idea' on its Head: The Lib/Lab Alliance and the Organization of the 1867 Working Men's Exhibition Tours 3. 'The Lessons of Paris': The 1867 Working Men's Exhibition Tours and the Artisan Imagination 4. 'High Attainments': The Artisan Exhibition Tours and the Campaign for Technical Education, 1867-1889 5. Class Trips and the Meaning of British Citizenship: The Regent Street Polytechnic at Home and Abroad, 1871-1903 6. Conclusion: Goody, Gordon, and Shilpa Shetty 'Poppadom': The Politics of Study Abroad from the New Liberalism to New Labour

Strong's intensive use of archival resources offers a significant contribution to understanding the international experiences of

working class travelers from Britain who, through their travels, continued to reassess rapid social and industrial change at home ... in its overall quality of research and writing this monograph should continue to be of interest for scholars of nineteenth and early twentieth-century Britain interested in international travel as envisioned and experienced by members of the working classes and liberal reformers. - Cercles

Dr. Michele M. Strong is Associate Professor of History at the University of South Alabama, USA.