-
Foreword
- University Press of Florida
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Foreword The 1920s have long been described as “the Lean Years” for American workers. They followed the dynamism of the progressive era and World War I as workers and social reformers attempted to remake America. In the wake of this activism, the 1920s seemed like a retreat (either forced or voluntary) for labor. These were after all years filled with the Red Scare, open shop, welfare capitalism, Americanization, and what seemed like an all-out assault on labor unions. These were also the years of rising consumerism and the celebration of the individual over the collective. American workers seemed lulled into inactivity, from policy and political debates. Jon Huibregtse reminds us that the surface can be deceiving. While it would be wrong to read the 1920s as only a precursor to the New Deal, scholars have been curious to locate the roots to modern liberalism for many years. Huibregtse joins this growing list, who see the 1920s as significant to understanding the shift from Progressivism to liberalism. He roots his story in the railroad industry and with its workers. Rail workers had a unique history . Their industry was heavily regulated and emerged from World War I as government run. They combined the quest for collective bargaining with citizen rights and industrial democracy, bridging to the New Deal. Building on the growing number of studies that have looked at the changing relationship between the state and workers, Huibregtse’s great force has been his ability to place workers as central to this shift. He demonstrates clearly that workers affect policy, that they are active participants in policy debates, and that the experiences of rail workers proved important educational experiences for the New Deal. Richard Greenwald and Timothy Minchin series editors ...