The State and Labor in Modern America

by Melvyn Dubofsky

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807861158
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/09/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	342
Lexile:	1620L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB

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.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[Dubofsky] likes the historical imaginations of social scientists, and his method is to blend their insights within a traditional framework focused on the Presidency in order to 'bring the state back in' to labor history.—New York Times Book Review

The State and Labor in Modern America is an excellent book with many powerful and well-substantiated points.—Industrial and Labor Relations Review

An expert guide to the half-century of political and legal turmoil that preceded Taft-Hartley and a persuasive reaffirmation of the significance of organized labor in twentieth-century history.—American Historical Review

Dubofsky's analysis is bracing and should generate much debate.—Journal of American History

A masterful history of the federal law of industrial disputes and collective bargaining in the century after 1873. . . . The State and Labor in Modern America is also first-rate history, the best synthesis yet published of the public policy of labor relations in industrial America.—Reviews in American History

This expert historical essay should be read by all political scientists.—Political Science Quarterly

An outstanding example of historical scholarship. . . . It both surveys the broad scope of over 100 years of labor-state relations and establishes a standard by which subsequent work in the field will be measured. The book is written with great clarity and exemplary fair-mindedness while at the same time advancing forthright and convincing perspectives on a wide range of complex and controversial issues.—Robert H. Zieger, University of Florida

[This] deeply informed and wise book . . . restores the cogency of the liberal argument and sets the scholarly standard against which all future work on state-labor relations in modern America will be tested.—David Brody, University of California, Davis

Editorial Reviews

In this work, Dubofsky (history and sociology, SUNY at Binghamton) is trying to avoid many of the current paths of labor scholarship. Instead of investigating labor internally, he looks at the ways labor and capital have interacted with the various branches of government since Reconstruction. In studying the tangible labor policies of the state, he analyzes the influence of the different regions on one another, considering, for instance, the effect of congressional representatives from the South on New England's manufacturing workers. He also reveals that the use of troops against unions was often not court ordered but frequently decreed by the executive branch and supported by Congress. Dubofsky's footnotes and bibliography are, as usual, magnificent; when he ignores an event or aspect of a subject, the reader feels sure that he is aware of his actions. Recommended for all academic libraries.-Clay Williams, Bluefield State Coll. Lib., W. Va.

Library Journal

First-rate history, the best synthesis yet published of the public policy of labor relations in industrial America.

"Reviews in American History"

"First-rate history, the best synthesis yet published of the public policy of labor relations in industrial America.

"Reviews in American History""

An excellent book with many powerful and well-substantiated points.

"Industrial and Labor Relations Review"

An expert guide to the half-century of political and legal turmoil that preceded Taft-Hartley.

"American Historical Review"

Dubofsky's analysis is bracing and should generate much debate.

"Journal of American History"

This expert historical essay should be read by all political scientists.

"Political Science Quarterly"

From the Publisher