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Working Hard for the American Dream
Workers and Their Unions, World War I to the Present
"In this impressive synthesis of the literature of the field, Storch has deftly accessed both standards within the New Labor History and cutting-edge material, offering at once an excellent text to undergraduate students surveying the field and an invaluable narrative to graduate students and scholars reaching for a source to understand current thinking. Her writing is crisp and clear, and she balances chronology and themes masterfully." "The text not only proceeds at a nice pace but is infused with a dynamism and sense of importance that students will certainly appreciate. Storch’s ability to cover so many topics and maintain a sense of momentum is admirable."
--Daniel Katz, Dean of Labor Studies and Professor of History, National Labor College
--Kathleen Mapes, Associate Professor of History, SUNY Geneseo
Randi Storch (Author)
9781118541494, Wiley
Paperback / softback, published 16 April 2013
304 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.336 kg
“Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels of students; faculty and researchers; professionals; general readers.” (Choice, 1 October 2013)
Working Hard for the American Dream examines the various economic, social, and political developments that shaped labor history in the United States from World War I until the present day.
List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Back to the Future 1 1 "Everyone Was Ready For Unionism": The Precursors, Promises, and Pitfalls of Industrial Unions in the 1930s 10 Political Prelude: Industrial Democracy Betrayed, from Wilson to Hoover 12 Corporate Prelude: The Unintended Consequences of 1920s Corporate Policies 25 Working-Class Prelude: Activism 32 A New Deal for Workers: A Failed and Flawed Start 41 Fighting for Unionism in the 1930s Without Meaningful Federal Protection 44 The Wagner Act and Industrial Unionism 48 Corporate Resistance and Workers’ Unity 58 Extending the New Deal for Workers 61 Assessing Workers' New Deal and Industrial Unionism 65 Conclusion 68 2 Big Wars, Big Labor, Big Costs 70 Wartime Mobilization, 1939–1941 73 Government Intervention: War Industries and Labor Policies, 1941–1945 87 Wartime Demographic Developments 93 Crisis in Industrial Relations, 1945–1946 103 Postwar Politics and Taft-Hartley, 1946–1948 108 Political (Mis)calculations: Operation Dixie, CIO Purges, and International Alliances, 1946–1950s 114 Big Labor, Big Costs, 1955–1960s 120 Conclusion 127 3 Civil Rights Versus Labor Rights, 1960s–1970s 128 Expanding Public and Service Sectors 131 Public Sector Workers and Union Rights 133 New Laws and Workplace Challenges 141 Women and Workplace Rights 151 The Push and Pull of Changing Times: New Unionists, Rank-and-File Movements, AFL-CIO Leaders, and Nixon 157 Unionists Divided and Under Siege 169 Conclusion 172 4 Working More for Less and Other Troubles for Workers in the Late Twentieth Century 174 Profit Making in a Global World 176 The Human Price of Modern Capitalism 182 The Political Shaping of the Economy 189 The AFL-CIO Leadership's Resistance to Change 199 Innovation and Possibilities 205 Change from the Bottom-Up 216 Conclusion 222 Epilogue: The Illusive American Dream: A Personal Journey 224 Bibliographical Essay 253 Index 278
Subject Areas: History [HB]
