Read A History of America in Ten Strikes Audible Audio Edition Erik Loomis Brian Troxell Brilliance Audio Books
Download As PDF : A History of America in Ten Strikes Audible Audio Edition Erik Loomis Brian Troxell Brilliance Audio Books
A thrilling and timely account of ten moments in history when labor challenged the very nature of power in America, by the author called "a brilliant historian" by The Progressive magazineÂ
Powerful and accessible, A History of America in Ten Strikes challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. In this brilliant book, labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers' strikes in American labor history that everyone needs to know about (and then provides an annotated list of the 150 most important moments in American labor history in the appendix). From the Lowell Mill Girls strike in the 1830s to Justice for Janitors in 1990, these labor uprisings do not just reflect the times in which they occurred, but speak directly to the present moment.
For example, we often think that Lincoln ended slavery by proclaiming the slaves emancipated, but Loomis shows that they freed themselves during the Civil War by simply withdrawing their labor. He shows how the hopes and aspirations of a generation were made into demands at a GM plant in Lordstown in 1972. And he takes us to the forests of the Pacific Northwest in the early nineteenth century where the radical organizers known as the Wobblies made their biggest inroads against the power of bosses. But there were also moments when the movement was crushed by corporations and the government; Loomis helps us understand the present perilous condition of American workers and draws lessons from both the victories and defeats of the past.
In crystalline narratives, labor historian Erik Loomis lifts the curtain on workers' struggles, giving us a fresh perspective on American history from the boots up.
Strikes include
Lowell Mill Girls Strike (Massachusetts, 1830-40)
Slaves on Strike (The Confederacy, 1861-65)
The Eight-Hour Day Strikes (Chicago, 1886)
The Anthracite Strike (Pennsylvania, 1902)
The Bread and Roses Strike (Massachusetts, 1912)
The Flint Sit-Down Strike (Michigan, 1937)
The Oakland General Strike (California, 1946)
Lordstown (Ohio, 1972)
Air Traffic Controllers (1981)
Justice for Janitors (Los Angeles, 1990)
Read A History of America in Ten Strikes Audible Audio Edition Erik Loomis Brian Troxell Brilliance Audio Books
"Erik Loomis in ‘A History of America in Ten Strikes’ makes no secret of the fact that he sides with those who “throughout American history … wanted to work and live with human dignity†and who thus felt periodically obliged to withdraw their labour, as the employers’ “goal is to exploit us†and they “treat us like garbageâ€. “Us†is the preferred pronoun of the Associate Professor to express his profound sense of identity and solidarity with the unionised.
This declared bias means that the argument of this book is not, surprisingly, lacking in subtlety. True, Loomis warns at one point that “we should not romanticize strikes†(not least because some strikes were called “to keep workplaces all whiteâ€) but this is precisely what Loomis nevertheless ends up doing.
The book comprises an introduction; ten chapters focusing upon a particular strike (with roughly one-third of each chapter examining the strike in question, whilst the remaining two-thirds aim to place “that strike in context of the broader issues affecting Americans at the timeâ€); then there is a conclusion; and finally an appendix comprising a timeline of the 150 most important moments in US labour history, ranging from the first importation of American slaves to Jamestown in 1619, to the 2016 election of President Trump (who is elsewhere characterized as “a fascist Islamophobeâ€). The ten strikes run from the Lowell Mill Girls Strike of 1830–40, to the Justice for Janitors action in Los Angeles in 1990.
Loomis provides some interesting and accessible narrative but very little by way of incisive analysis. Even the criteria for choosing his ten strikes seem terribly vague. For example we’re told in advance that his consideration of the 1902 Anthracite Strike in Pennsylvania will explain “ the central role of government in deciding the fate of a strike, with both great possibilities and great peril for workersâ€. This level of platitude suffuses the entire book. Thus the chapter on the 1980 Air Traffic Controllers’ strike, for example, begins by telling us that “When government opposes unions, workers suffer.†Does anyone but the most blinkered neoliberal really need that spelt out, and even when spelt out thus baldly would any neoliberal be persuaded to mend their ways?
Another problem with the book, considered as a work of History, is that Loomis is clearly as much – or more – concerned with the present and the future as he is with the past but whereas Naomi Klein in ‘No is Not Enough’ provides a rousing and plausible plan of campaign for uniting and mobilizing trade unionists, environmentalists, feminists, indigenous people and “the other victims of racism and xenophobiaâ€, Loomis’s hope for “worker justice†in the future rests on turning the Democratic Party once again “into an instrument of workers’ rights†by unspecified “organizing both inside and outside†it.
In short, whilst historically there is power in a union, ‘A History of America in Ten Strikes’ is decidedly anaemic, being as rich in vicarious indignation, as it is poor in insights about the past or detailed proposals for the future."
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A History of America in Ten Strikes Audible Audio Edition Erik Loomis Brian Troxell Brilliance Audio Books Reviews :
A History of America in Ten Strikes Audible Audio Edition Erik Loomis Brian Troxell Brilliance Audio Books Reviews
- Erik Loomis gives us a well written brief history of working women and men uniting to improve their working conditions and their personal lives against the background of a general narrative of US history at large. His main argument is that unions only succeed when they represent the interests of large numbers of workers, and also by electing political officials who will support those interests through legislation. Today unions in the private sector represent only a small fraction of working people, and even in government where about one in three workers are represented by a union, the handwriting appears to be on the wall right to work laws and the end of automatic union dues will undermine these private sector unions as well. Hard times ahead for unions and the people they represent. So why write a book about the history of union strikes? Loomis says that "these early strikes should serve as an inspiration today, showing us that our ancestors, much like us, faced a rapidly changing world by seeking justice for their brothers and sisters." (28) My only quibble with the book is that the author doesn't mention the fact that strikes can also be fun for working people. In 1979 as a dockworker and Teamster I walked the strike picket line in Elk Grove, California. We walked for two hours in shifts, and then retired to one of our Teamster brother's RV for cold beer and baseball on the television. We won a wage and benefits increase. Nice work if you can get it!
- How I wish this book had been available back in American history class. A neat set of examples demonstrating how democratic government can be either the problem, or the solution, when it comes to poverty and oppression and economic fairness.
- I love union history my mom was President of local S.E.I.U. My dad was one of air traffic control who got hire after patio strike and proud N.A.T.C.A. Member support of all union. Union proud family
- Erik Loomis in ‘A History of America in Ten Strikes’ makes no secret of the fact that he sides with those who “throughout American history … wanted to work and live with human dignity†and who thus felt periodically obliged to withdraw their labour, as the employers’ “goal is to exploit us†and they “treat us like garbageâ€. “Us†is the preferred pronoun of the Associate Professor to express his profound sense of identity and solidarity with the unionised.
This declared bias means that the argument of this book is not, surprisingly, lacking in subtlety. True, Loomis warns at one point that “we should not romanticize strikes†(not least because some strikes were called “to keep workplaces all whiteâ€) but this is precisely what Loomis nevertheless ends up doing.
The book comprises an introduction; ten chapters focusing upon a particular strike (with roughly one-third of each chapter examining the strike in question, whilst the remaining two-thirds aim to place “that strike in context of the broader issues affecting Americans at the timeâ€); then there is a conclusion; and finally an appendix comprising a timeline of the 150 most important moments in US labour history, ranging from the first importation of American slaves to Jamestown in 1619, to the 2016 election of President Trump (who is elsewhere characterized as “a fascist Islamophobeâ€). The ten strikes run from the Lowell Mill Girls Strike of 1830–40, to the Justice for Janitors action in Los Angeles in 1990.
Loomis provides some interesting and accessible narrative but very little by way of incisive analysis. Even the criteria for choosing his ten strikes seem terribly vague. For example we’re told in advance that his consideration of the 1902 Anthracite Strike in Pennsylvania will explain “ the central role of government in deciding the fate of a strike, with both great possibilities and great peril for workersâ€. This level of platitude suffuses the entire book. Thus the chapter on the 1980 Air Traffic Controllers’ strike, for example, begins by telling us that “When government opposes unions, workers suffer.†Does anyone but the most blinkered neoliberal really need that spelt out, and even when spelt out thus baldly would any neoliberal be persuaded to mend their ways?
Another problem with the book, considered as a work of History, is that Loomis is clearly as much – or more – concerned with the present and the future as he is with the past but whereas Naomi Klein in ‘No is Not Enough’ provides a rousing and plausible plan of campaign for uniting and mobilizing trade unionists, environmentalists, feminists, indigenous people and “the other victims of racism and xenophobiaâ€, Loomis’s hope for “worker justice†in the future rests on turning the Democratic Party once again “into an instrument of workers’ rights†by unspecified “organizing both inside and outside†it.
In short, whilst historically there is power in a union, ‘A History of America in Ten Strikes’ is decidedly anaemic, being as rich in vicarious indignation, as it is poor in insights about the past or detailed proposals for the future.
