VIOLLAB investigates the causes and consequences of disciplinary violence—physical punishment used by employers, masters, and overseers to correct workers and enforce discipline—in Britain from c. 1550 to 1800. Although workplace violence is recognized today as a major social and economic problem, the project suggests that it has a deep and largely unexplored history. VIOLLAB examines how disciplinary violence operated across sectors of the early modern British economy as it transitioned toward agrarian and industrial capitalism and became increasingly dependent on bound (indentured and enslaved) labour in colonial contexts. By reconstructing both how and why disciplinary violence was used, and how workers and legal institutions responded to it, the project aims to enhance scholarly understanding of work, labour discipline, and law before modern labour protections and workers’ organizations existed. VIOLLAB provides the first systematic historical analysis of workplace disciplinary violence in early modern Britain. It reveals the ideologies and practical logics that justified violent labour discipline; highlights workers’ varied responses, from solidarity to acceptance of “justified” correction; and clarifies the ambiguous and contested legal status of disciplinary violence, showing how law could both empower and constrain workers. Ultimately, the project offers new insight into the lived experiences of workers and the evolution of labour discipline during a period of major economic transformation.It explores connections between British labour practices and bound (indentured and enslaved) labour in the Caribbean, offering fresh insight into how ideas about violence and discipline circulated within the British Empire and the interconnectedness of metropolitan and colonial labour regimes. Furthermore, by linking past and present forms of workplace coercion, the project offers historical context to contemporary concerns about work-related violence. Modern policymakers, unions, and occupational safety experts gain new historical insight into how violence has been justified, normalized, resisted, and legally regulated, helping to deepen current debates on safe working environments.
