VOLUNTARY SERVICE AND PAID EMPLOYMENT: THE ROLES OF WOMEN IN ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, 1889–1989 Available to Purchase

Introduction When a new field of research and analysis becomes fashionable it is sometimes given a special name which im‐plies that it is a sub‐discipline which should develop in its own distinctive way. In some cases this is both desirable and necessary but when one politically significant social difference is singled out for specific attention it is more im‐portant to make sure that research is integrated with general intellectual developments than to assert an auton‐omy from existing specialisations. If students “parachute” into a subject they ought to carry with them basic ideas to use in analysis which have gained some acceptability in other spheres.