Project description
Health and work in early modern society
From the end of the Middle Ages to the start of the Industrial Revolution, between 1550 and 1750, Italy developed high levels of urbanisation. It also had some of the most developed health regulations in Europe. The EU-funded Occupational Health project will investigate the relationship between health and work in northern Italy between the mid-16th and mid-18th centuries. Specifically, it will study a cross section of workers, medical practitioners to artisans, to determine how they discussed their health problems with each other and with their employers and how their employers responded. It will build on existing scholarship and experiences of disease and public health measures. The project aims at offering new insights into health and ill-health in early modern society.
Objective
My project investigates the relationship between ill-health and working life in early modern Italy (c.1550-1750). The objective is to analyse how workers communicated health problems to employers and, in turn, how employers responded. It provides a ground-breaking perspective on the cultural history of ill-health, taking an occupational health approach to experiences of illness, health in the domestic environment, and public health. Ill-health is broadly conceived, encompassing chronic illness, bouts of ill-health, and injury. Work is defined as ‘the use of time with the goal of making a living.’ Therefore, both paid and unpaid activities are considered, and particular attention is given to women’s work. Italy is a crucial site for analysis as it had a diverse workforce in highly urbanised areas while also being at the forefront of developing public health procedures in Europe, including the regulation of dangerous jobs. Concerns about the health consequences of working practices grew during this period, as demonstrated by a widely circulated treatise on the diseases of workers first published in 1700. I will apply methodological approaches from the history of epistemology to neglected sources including manuscript ‘sick notes’ found in letters, physicians’ notebooks, medical treatises, and regulations created by employers. The project examines how concerns about work activities were integrated into medical discourse and diagnosis, how workers understood and shared health problems, and how occupational health shaped early modern society. Following teaching-focused positions and non-academic employment, I will restart my research career at Ca’ Foscari in Venice where I will have access to archives, work with outstanding researchers and receive career development training. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed, open access journals, a project website, a museum exhibition and via academic and public talks.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy epistemology
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences economics and business business and management employment
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health occupational health
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
30123 VENEZIA
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.