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Labor

The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, 1912-1921

Joseph A. McCartin

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 11/2017
Pages: 320
Subject: Political Science, History | University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9781469617039

DESCRIPTION

Since World War I, says Joseph McCartin, the central problem of American labor relations has been the struggle among workers, managers, and state officials to reconcile democracy and authority in the workplace. In his comprehensive look at labor issues during the decade of the Great War, McCartin explores the political, economic, and social forces that gave rise to this conflict and shows how rising labor militancy and the sudden erosion of managerial control in wartime workplaces combined to create an industrial crisis. The search for a resolution to this crisis led to the formation of an influential coalition of labor Democrats, AFL unionists, and Progressive activists on the eve of U.S. entry into the war. Though the coalition's efforts in pursuit of industrial democracy were eventually frustrated by powerful forces in business and government and by internal rifts within the movement itself, McCartin shows how the shared quest helped cement the ties between unionists and the Democratic Party that would subsequently shape much New Deal legislation and would continue to influence the course of American political and labor history to the present day.

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