Transcript Overview of American Labor

Theory and Philosophy
 History as the Narrative
 History as the Narrative
of Nations
of social interaction
 Kissinger: “History is the  Zinn: “History is the
memory of states.”
story of the human
experience.”
 Discourse for
understanding the
 Catalog of historical
development of States
events through the
and Economies
experiences of those
involved
 Labor History is
invariably linked to the
narrative of social
interaction
 Necessitates a different
perspective on historical
events; the perspective of
a specific group of
individuals
 As an agent of Revolutionary Change (Emphasis on people,
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workers)
As an aspect of Business (Emphasis on its effect on
economic practice)
As an agent of industrial reform (Emphasis on reform of
policy and theory)
As a psychological reaction to industrialism (Emphasis on
the individual)
As a moral force for individuals (Emphasis on morality of
action)
As a pernicious monopoly (Emphasis of the economic
effects on policy)
 The German Revolution of 1848
set the stage for European
relations with labor movements
 Chaotic, Anarchistic,
Communism
 A symbol of everything that was
breaking down in Europe:
Social, Economic, Cultural, and
National identities
 The result of these fears by
National leaders was the rise of
more powerful governments
 Napoleon III in France
 Bismark in Germany
 Alexander I and II in Russia
American Labor
• Labor history in the
United States is some of
the most unique
examples of progressive
change
• This stems from three
main causes: It’s
history as a Republic, its
divisive racial
segregation, and its
removal from European
tensions.
American Labor as a whole however, still concerns the same plight as
those in Europe.
 The largest, most popular, and most widely attributed view of Labor History
 Focuses on the experiences of those most directly affected by economic
relations: workers
 Das Kapital (Capital) By Karl Marx
 Study of production and exchange
 As a Materialist, Marx pointed out that material conditions of production affect
the social interaction of individuals
 Contradictions within exchange amount to a sophisticated form of theft
 Marx on Trade Unions
 Trade Unions serve a purpose, but fall short of their ultimate goal
 Contracts between Employers and Employees are impossible to be made on
equal terms
 Agitation among individuals creates a breakdown in the effectiveness of Unions
 What is to be Done? By Lenin
 The people must be emancipated by a dedicated Vanguard
 The General Strike according to Bill Haywood
 The General Strike shows where true power of any society lies, with the masses
of people and their willingness to support that society
 Reform is natural in a
‘modern’ sense
 Revolution is not
necessary for Labor’s
fight for equality
 Sidney + Beatrice Webb
 British Socialists
 Advocated an
evolutionary path to
Socialism in the UK
 Disagreed with Marx
about conflict through
force and revolution
Pro Labor:
• Countering disproportionate social systems
creates a higher morality
• Employers are empowered to raise the
moral standards of their employment
• Workers learn the higher moral standards of
self discipline and self-restraint
• Through time, this would inevitably create a
more moral political system
Richard Ely
Anti Labor:
• Violation of mankind’s natural rights to
ownership
• Ownership is fundamental to the
preservation of the family, and thus of life
itself
• Socialism is a moral violation of the
rights of the family
 The Polar Opposite of ideological
spectrum
 Champions of Capitalism,
Individual Freedom
 Milton Friedman
 Capitalism is Freedom
 Affects of social economic policy
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on individual freedom
‘Advancements’ in labor, despite
how noble it may be, do not
advance their own cause
Similar to Marx: Labor does not
attack the source of their
antagonism
Differ from Marx: Their actions
ultimately hurt individual freedom
because they fail to remove the
source of their antagonism
Thus Labor, as an organized force,
is essentially a legalized
monopolization of power that has
no end or purpose
Labor as Progressive
 Marx: The proletariat have
the capacity to fundamentally
change society, away from a
sophisticated form of slavery
 Haywood: The General strike
proves exactly where the real
political power of society lies
 Ely: Labor forces create a
more moral and just society
Labor as Regressive
 Pope Leo XIII: Abolition
of private property
violates the natural
rights of mankind
 Friedman: Capitalism is
the height of individual
freedom, labor is
monopolistic
 Important to remember that ‘labor’ history differs from the
traditional narrative of empires, nations, states, and
individuals
 Labor History is the study of people and their perspectives
from different economic classes
 Labor as a social force can be viewed differently by different
social groups
 Perspective is most important for students to understand
how and why the labor movement as a social force exists
 Ultimately labor history broadly studies individuals and their
relationship to the productive forces of their economy, which
creates their perspective and ideological view
 1917-1990: Subsidiary
and cell of the Soviet
Union
 1991: Collapse of the
Soviet Union
 1992-Present: Diverse
organization, loosely
governed, helped found
CIO, prone to appeal by
Soviet policy
 Oral Histories of CPUSA Members and Leaders
 Different narratives than Party documents
 McCarthy era as synonymous with Purges
 Evoking that sense of Animal Farm: Are powerful
bureaucracies that different from each other?
 Roles of Party Members in finding alternatives for
alienated workers
 CPUSA’s drive to unionize agricultural workers not
covered by New Deal
 Earliest mainstream political champions of Equality for
women and non-whites