Hussey Kristin D
Soc Hist Med. 2021 Sep 27;35(2):422-443. doi: 10.1093/shm/hkab105. eCollection 2022 May.
This article explores an interesting episode in the history of time, health, and modernity: Britain's 1908 and 1909 Daylight Saving Time (DST) Bills. While the original DST scheme was unsuccessful, the discussions surrounding its implementation reveal tensions central to early twentieth century modernity, namely between industrial time and 'natural' bodily rhythms. This article argues that DST was essentially a public health measure aimed at improving the conditions of indoor workers like shop girls and clerks through government regulation of the private time of the labouring classes. Drawing on the extensive evidence provided to two House of Commons Special Committees, this article reveals how DST debates drew together contemporary discussions around sunlight therapy, night work, and the importance of regular sleeping and eating to tackle Britain's endemic urban diseases like consumption and anaemia. I suggest that the idea of bodily rhythms was increasingly important in medical thinking in this period and that the study of rhythmicity points to the potential for incorporating temporality as an analytical category in medical history.
本文探讨了时间、健康与现代性历史上一段有趣的插曲：英国1908年和1909年的夏令时法案。虽然最初的夏令时计划并不成功，但围绕其实施的讨论揭示了20世纪初现代性的核心矛盾，即工业时间与“自然”身体节律之间的矛盾。本文认为，夏令时本质上是一项公共卫生措施，旨在通过政府对工人阶级私人时间的规范，改善像女店员和职员这样的室内工作者的工作条件。基于向下议院两个特别委员会提供的大量证据，本文揭示了夏令时辩论如何将当时关于日光疗法、夜间工作以及规律睡眠和饮食对解决英国诸如肺结核和贫血等地方性城市疾病的重要性的讨论汇聚在一起。我认为，身体节律的概念在这一时期的医学思维中变得越来越重要，并且节律性研究指出了将时间性纳入医学史分析范畴的可能性。
