Apr 21, 2019
I'll take a little theory and history with my labor organizing, please. And I'd like them shaken...not stirred.
Comrade and fellow social worker/labor organizer, Sam, is on the show this week to help me talk about Jane McAlevey's dynamite book on labor organizing in the current era of capitalism, No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age. We talk about the basic concepts and organizing strategy McAlevey focuses on in the book by looking at their application in our own labor union organizing with social workers in Texas.
There are also lots of details in here regarding some basic facts and history of labor unions and labor struggles in the U.S. which should be of interest to theory geeks, history nerds, and organizers alike. Most importantly, we talk at-length about our own personal realizations that a strong Leftist, radical approach to labor organizing isn't just about higher wages - it's about human dignity and changing society.
***Correction: First philanthropic foundation we mention in the show was the Rockefeller Foundation, not the Ford Foundation. See notes below on Ludlow Massacre***
References/Further Reading and Viewing:
------------------------------------------------
Click here to subscribe to Red Library on iTunes
Click here to support Red Library on Patreon
Click here to find Red Library on Facebook
Click here to find the host's political theory blog, Capillaries: Theory at the Front