Labor Books Reflect & Spark Interest
Labor is receiving an unusual amount of attention these days, much of it focused on the fierce political battles unions are waging on behalf of various presidential hopeful in the primaries. Reporters and even some talking heads on television who generally ignore the union movement are paying at least some attention, even if much of it is to wonder about labor’s effectiveness in the campaign.
Far less talked about, but perhaps more important, is the attention labor is getting in another sphere altogether — the world of books. Suddenly, it seems, unions, workers and trade unionists are the subject of some interest. Quality books such as “U.S. Labor in Trouble: The Failure of Reform From Above, The Promise of Revival from Below,” “Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy,” “The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi” and “Global Unions: Challenging Transnational Capital Through Cross-Border Campaigns” are important for several reasons.
They reflect a renewed interest in labor that will likely seep into the broader consciousness. The subjects and subject matter, even if sometimes from the recent past, suggest the current relevance of labor, if nothing else by showing how little has changed. Perhaps most of all, they not only contain fresh ideas and thinking about labor, they spur the same by those who read and discuss the books. The importance of this may not be self-evident but in fact it can’t be overestimated. It’s through the power of ideas that change and progress take place. When conservatism seemed out of favor and lacking in relevance to today’s America, what did its advocates do? They set up think tanks, to generate new ideas that would help the movement regain influence and adherents and, eventually, political power.
The spate of books, with the above-mentioned only a sampling, comes on the heels of labor’s period of self-examination about how best to rejuvenate the union movement. This intellectual ferment, both within and about the labor movement, augurs well for its eventual revival.