The Perimeters of Mobility in Early Modern Construction Sites (Savoy States, 18th Century)

This contribution is focused on work in building sites in pre-industrial period, where different forms of mobility and immobility of labour coexist. This paper aims to show the different ways to manage it. Which juridical and legal instruments consent to control workers mobility? And which informal mechanisms limit or lead their movements? To answer to these questions, I will observe the circulation of building workers in Europe in 18th century, and I will focus on construction sites in Savoy States and in their capital, Turin. The analysis of work organization consents to show the importance of managing and control mobility on these workplaces continuous changing. Attentive to an emic perspective, this research observes the capacity of actors to participate to the process of definition of control mobility. In the urban courts workers and their employers were often opposite in lawsuits that contribute to define the perimeter of workers movements.