In this Book
- Reinventing "The People": The Progressive Movement, the Class Problem, and the Origins of Modern Liberalism
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: University of Illinois Press
- Series: The Working Class in American History
A comprehensive study of the Progressive movement, Reinventing "The People"contends that the persistence of class conflict in America challenged the very defining feature of Progressivism: its promise of social harmony through democratic renewal.
Shelton Stromquist profiles the movement's work in diverse arenas of social reform, politics, labor regulation and so-called race improvement. While these reformers emphasized different programs, they crafted a common language of social reconciliation in which an imagined civic community--"the People"--would transcend parochial class and political loyalties. But efforts to invent a society without enduring class lines marginalized new immigrants and African Americans by declaring them unprepared for civic responsibilities. In so doing, Progressives laid the foundation for twentieth-century liberals' inability to see their world in class terms and to conceive of social remedies that might alter the structures of class power.
Table of Contents
- Title Page
- p. iii
- Copyright Page
- p. iv
- 2. Constituting Progressivism
- pp. 33-55
- 3. The Politics of Reform
- pp. 56-82
- 4. Communities of Reformers
- pp. 83-106
- 6. The Boundaries of Difference
- pp. 131-164
Additional Information
Copyright
2006