The State and Labor in Modern America - Softcover

Dubofsky, Melvyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807844365 ISBN 13: 9780807844366

Publisher: University North Carolina Pr, 1994

Synopsis

In this important new book, Melvyn Dubofsky traces the relationship between the American labor movement and the federal government from the 1870s until the present. His is the only book to focus specifically on the 'labor question' as a lens through which to view more clearly the basic political, economic, and social forces that have divided citizens throughout the industrial era. Many scholars contend that the state has acted to suppress trade union autonomy and democracy, as well as rank-and-file militancy, in the interest of social stability and conclude that the law has rendered unions the servants of capital and the state. In contrast, Dubofsky argues that the relationship between the state and labor is far more complex and that workers and their unions have gained from positive state intervention at particular junctures in American history. He focuses on six such periods when, in varying combinations, popular politics, administrative policy formation, and union influence on the legislative and executive branches operated to promote stability by furthering the interests of workers and their organizations.

About this title

About the Author

Melvyn Dubofsky, Distinguished Professor of History and Sociology at the State University of New York at Binghamton, is author of several books, including John L. Lewis: A Biography and We Shall Be All: A History of the IWW.

From the Back Cover

In this book, Melvyn Dubofsky traces the relationship between the American labor movement and the federal government from the 1870s until the present, using the 'labor question' as a lens through which to view the basic political, economic, and social forces that have divided citizens throughout the industrial era.

Edition details

• Publisher: University North Carolina Pr
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807844365
• ISBN 13: 9780807844366
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 342