can i get some suggestions on books about the aztec empire? the ones on the book list arent in my library. they do have a few books on the aztecs but i'm not sure how good they are since most of them are about cortes and the aztecs but i need something that can give me good info on how the empire was built up in the 14th century pre cortes. any help would be appreciated and any podcast suggestions would be helpful as well.

I'm currently looking for reading on renaissance conceptions of chivalry, honor, and hospitality if anyone has any suggestions? I've finished all my research from the Gaelic perspective of these topics and now would like to balance this by looking at a more humanist, non-Celtic point of view. Primary sources would be ace as well if you've got some ideas! Any and all help in this would be very greatly appreciated and would make my birthday just that much more awesome :)

Not sure if I should be asking this here, but:

If you were going to compile a series of interviews aimed at creating a curated work of primary sources, what would you do to make it as beneficial as possible to future historians or social scientists?

I've been reading extensively on Labour Process Theory (LPT). The concept initially drew extensively from the Marxist analysis of the work processes described in Harry Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degredation of Work in the 20th century. Essentially, Braverman argued that work processes under Fordist capitalism (comprised of Taylorism in the workplace, Wagnerism in industrial relations, and Keynesianism in economic policy) tended towards the division of labour. Division of labour, in this sense, meant deskilling - removing the manager's brains from the workman's cap, so to speak - and a tendency towards increased managerial control. Scientific management on the shop floor is perhaps the best example of this sort of thing.

As time went on, the Soviet Union collapsed, neoliberal economics and politics came to the fore and historians of the left were challenged by postmodern skepticism re: metanarratives and the notion that "class" might not be a primary category of analysis at all, but rather one of many Foucaudian spheres of power. At the same time, post-Fordist strategies questioned the relevancy of the LPT in an era where industrial managerial policy highlighted the importance of "flexible" just-in-time production, so-called 'multi-skilling' of workers, and lean manufacturing in traditional (read: white, male) workplaces.

One major challenge was that it appeared that LPV did not take the subjectivity of workers' experiences into account - under Braverman they were simply acted upon by the massive forces of industrial organization, and although scholars like David Montgomery expanded on this with a discussion of workers' resistance through strikes and so on, what of all the other workers? What of those who did not 'resist?' Or those who resisted in non-traditional ways - such as misbehavior on the job, drinking, or trying to slack off? What of those who colluded with management and accepted new paradigms? Further, how are multiple identities - which extend far beyond the gates of the factory - included within an analytical lens that places the relationships of production and re-production at the centre?

In any case, I'm trying to figure a way to use oral history testimony to form some sort of synthesis between modern uses of LPT and workers' subjectivities (identity, experience, etc.). That's what I've been working on all day. Anybody have any thoughts?

I'm working on a paper on the Julia C. Lathrop homes, a public housing project in Chicago. If anyone has suggestions of good books on the history of public housing in Chicago or more specifically anything on the Lathrop homes in particular, I would greatly appreciate them.