Writings about Well Being and Transnational Networks of Care in the British World, 1870s–1930s

This panel examines how transnational communities in the British world understood wellbeing and its relationship to work, exhaustion, and care. Focusing on three different yet interconnected contexts—British businessmen and clerks in the bookselling and newspaper industries, women’s rights activists, and workers caring for girls in the British colonies—these papers illuminate the emotional toll of labor in these different fields and the necessity—and fragility—of care in sustaining individuals and institutions. Each case study reveals a gap between institutional ideals and the lived reality of workers on the ground, who struggled with exhaustion, lack of support, and bureaucratic indifference. By centering epistolary sources, this panel uncovers the hidden histories of care and the ways individuals fostered resilience in the face of demanding environments.