WORKERS OF THE OLD-WORLD AND THE NEW-WORL D - AMERICAN AND FRENCH WORKERS PERCEPTION OF LABOR 1876-1889

Drawing upon the Reports of the ''Free Delegation of French Workers to the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876'' and those of the Delegation of American Workers to the Paris Exhibition in 1889, sponsored by the pre ss magnate, Howard Scripps, this article attempts to compare the perce ption French workers had of American labor and labor conditions with A merican workers' perception of French labor. If draws attention to som e of the methodological problems raised by such a comparison before fo cusing on the attitudes of the two groups to industrial and craft prod ucts, machinery, work conditions. If compares the sell: image of each group with that of the other group, It underlines the contrast between the French workers' assessment of their own government and their plac e within the political system and the political vision expressed by Am erican workers.