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There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America, by Philip Dray
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From the nineteenth-century textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the triumph of unions in the twentieth century and their waning influence today, the contest between labor and capital for the American bounty has shaped our national experience.
In this stirring new history, Philip Dray shows us the vital accomplishments of organized labor and illuminates its central role in our social, political, economic, and cultural evolution. His epic, character-driven narrative not only restores to our collective memory the indelible story of American labor, it also demonstrates the importance of the fight for fairness and economic democracy, and why that effort remains so urgent today.
- Sales Rank: #332151 in Books
- Published on: 2011-09-20
- Released on: 2011-09-20
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.90" h x 1.60" w x 5.10" l, 1.66 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 816 pages
From Publishers Weekly
This stirring study situates one of the most subversive yet profoundly American of social movements at the heart of the nation's history. Historian Dray (At the Hands of Persons Unknown) follows organized labor from the struggles of early 19th-century female textile workers to the present-day retreat of organized labor following the failed 1981 air trafic controllers' strike. His episodic narrative, structured around major strikes, shows labor's heroic age as an era of naked class warfare: strikers died by the dozens in pitched battles with police, soldiers, and Pinkerton agents, and such charismatic organizers as Eugene Debs, Big Bill Haywood, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn braved prison and worse. The post-WWII period, by contrast, is a story of union conservatism, corruption scandals, and one rout after another at the hands of union-busting corporations abetted by government indifference. Organized labor's legacy, the author argues, is as much political as economic; it challenges bedrock American values of self-reliance while championing civil liberties--IWW speakers faced mass arrest for their public square orating--and bringing rights to the workplace. Packed with vivid characters and dramatic scenes, Dray's fine recap of a neglected but vital tradition has much to say about labor's current straits.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Dray traces the history of American trade unionism from the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1820s to unionism’s decline in the 1980s and the current status of organized labor, which the author suggests “may have been reduced to a whisper of its former greatness.” He explores such issues as what workers in different eras felt were their rights, what kind of future they envisioned for themselves and their families, the tension that erupts between skilled and unskilled labor, the impact of immigration, and the changing role of government in labor issues. The reader learns about recent labor concerns, including decades of globalization, which allows U.S. businesses to relocate production overseas using lower-cost workers and creative personnel practices such as massive hiring of temporary and part-time employees, who do not receive pension and health benefits. He notes that security of full-time employees is also threatened in our 24/7 workplace dominated by computers and e-mail, which he dubs “the electronic collar.” A thought-provoking book. --Mary Whaley
Review
“Insightful. . . . An exhaustive and surprisingly lively account of the integral role labor has played in American life.”
—The Plain Dealer
“Spectacular. . . . Dray’s chronicle reads like a novel, filled with dramatic acts of barbarism and bravery.”
—Maureen Corrigan’s Favorite Books of the Year, Fresh Air, NPR
“Engrossing. . . . A memorable and accurate history, one that reminds us of the honorable part labor played in the quest for what its advocates grandly but not inaccurately called ‘industrial democracy.’”
—The Washington Post
“Ambitious. . . . It’s a big colorful tale, and Dray has a gift for characterization as he tells the stories of dramatic figures such as Mother Jones and Jimmy Hoffa, and dramas such as the Haymarket Riot and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.”
—Chicago Tribune
“One of the great values of this beautifully written book is that it shows the centrality of labor and working-class organizations to America itself. . . . Dray comes into the ring with fists flying, and he doesn’t let up for a moment. If you love Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States you’ll probably love Dray’s history, too.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Dray provides a grand context for thinking about labor-management relations in a society beset by bad will within millions of workplaces. . . . He is a refreshing chronicler of history.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A stirring study. . . . Packed with vivid characters and dramatic scenes, Dray’s fine recap of a neglected but vital tradition has much to say about labors current straits.”
—The Washington Examiner
“An exemplary history of the American labor movement, from its time-shrouded beginnings to its murky present . . . in the tradition of Eric Foner and Studs Terkel.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“The unending struggle between unions and big business has never been more vividly told. Philip Dray is a marvelous story teller who brings history memorably alive, and you will not soon forget the tales of murder and greed, commitment and sacrifice, that fill these pages. But this is more than history; the compelling saga of labor as a crucible for social change should prompt some honest and hard debate about what’s happening to working men and women today.”
—Bill Moyers
“Sobering. . . . This unusually interesting book delivers on the promise of its subtitle. . . . [Dray] offers a balanced and comprehensive coverage of a force for American progress that is now in danger of becoming a relic of our storied past.”
—America Magazine
“Philip Dray’s big and bold history of organized labor in America splendidly retells a story—or a multitude of stories—badly in need of retelling. The labor movement’s decline in recent decades has accompanied a great national amnesia about all that the movement achieved for the nation. That amnesia threatens those achievements, so Dray’s book is timely as well as gripping.”
—Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy
"Any union leader working to define and strengthen the role of organized labor in the 21st century must read There Is Power in a Union, a comprehensive and fascinating history of the American labor movement."
—Michael Winship, President, Writers Guild of America, East (AFL-CIO)
"The American labor movement has been losing ground for three decades but its history is heroic and inspiring - full of scenes of dramatic, often bloody conflict. It would be hard to imagine a better account of those episodes of collective effort, personal courage, and fierce resistance than this engrossing narrative."
—Morris Dickstein, author of Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression
"From the Lowell Mills of antebellum America to the global assembly lines of our own day, Philip Dray offers a panoramic narrative of the work and struggle, the triumph and tragedy, that has been the fate of trade unionism in the United States. His lively and insightful history belongs on the shelf and in the hands of all those who want to organize ourselves out of the social and economic predicament in which the nation now finds itself."
—Nelson Lichtenstein, Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Most helpful customer reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful.
Brilliant Labor History - A Must Read
By Benjamin Brockwell
Philip Dray's powerful book lives up fully to its subtitle -
The Epic Story of Labor In America. Few books move with the power and ease of "There is Power In A Union."
Filled with unforgettable characters who claim monumental places in American history, Dray captures the personalities that carved the labor movement into the annals of American history. Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, Elizabeth Flynn, Albert Parsons, Joe Hill, Frank Little: some of them died, all of them made huge contributions to give American workers the benefits they have today. The unions may not be the powerful forces they once were in American history, but this book stirs up the ghosts and brings the historic battle between labor and capital back to life. I have read lots of history - few books stand up to the splendid work of this one. It is impossible to appreciate the anatomy of the labor fight in America without reading this book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Gripping, although not entirely impartial
By Marc and Susan Osborne
Philip Dray's book is a series of stories of the larger-than-life leaders of the labor movement, and he tells those stories convincingly and stirringly, without speculating outside the historical record. I found the book very readable and even a page-turner. There are a couple limitations to be aware of, but they won't bother everyone. First, Mr. Dray is unabashedly pro-union. Even those who share his sympathies may be bothered by the overt way that he takes sides. For instance, in discussing the Kyoto climate-change accord, Mr. Dray reports that the UAW "cautioned the president against commitments that would unfairly hamstring the U.S. auto industry and possibly result in layoffs," whereas he describes the same position, taken by management, as the "well-oiled reaction of the corporations and their conservative handmaidens." This problem goes beyond Mr. Dray's choice of words: he almost never gives serious consideration to positions critical of unions. The second limitation to his work is that it is almost exclusively narrative. He tells exciting tales, but discusses only in passing the economic and social forces that form the backdrop for the successes and failures of the labor movement. Nevertheless, it's an engrossing book and a great story.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
More relevant than ever
By G. Brozeit
I felt compelled to read up on my labor history following the recent (and ongoing) anti-union initiatives in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states across the nation. Philip Dray has written a compelling history of the labor union movement that helps us to understand how vital it has been to the country and citizens everywhere. I only hope more of those working for union representation will take the time to read this book. As Dray observes in his concluding chapter, we need "to treat seriously the need for unionized workers to be aware of the larger political and economic forces affecting today's global markets, and to know the history of labor itself." Reading this book will motivate them to continue fighting for the justice working people deserve.
Dray also pays much needed tribute to the hundreds of thousands of nameless, faceless workers who made the ultimate sacrifices for their fellow workers and humanity. His vivid, compelling retelling of the stories of, for example, the Lowell factories, the Haymarket Massacre, the Pullman Strikes, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire and important figures like Big Bill Haywood, John L. Lewis, Walther Reuther, and especially Eugene V. Debs, make the story complete. He also doesn't shy away from the corruption and malfeasance of leaders within the movement who have done so much to damage the popular perception of unions today.
Dray makes a strong argument of how labor must work together to educate all citizens about the value of their (or, more accurately, our) cause to all Americans. He rightly laments the loss of a vital connection between labor and average Americans, "Gone missing is the communal purpose that animated America in the mid-twentieth century, leading workers into unions and creating fundamental trust in government sufficient to bring about not only the benefits of the New Deal but the advances of the 1960s, such as the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and the National Endowment for the Arts, among many other programs."
As we observe the elevation of ignorance into public policy by supporters of the "tea parties," anti-tax at-all-cost Republicans, and spineless "Democrats," let us hope that more will read this book to begin to regain the communal purpose that has served this nation well through times hard and good.
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