In this Book
- Philadelphia Divided: Race and Politics in the City of Brotherly Love
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
summary
In a detailed study of life and politics in Philadelphia between the 1930s and the 1950s, James Wolfinger demonstrates how racial tensions in working-class neighborhoods and job sites shaped the contours of mid-twentieth-century liberal and conservative politics. As racial divisions fractured the working class, he argues, Republican leaders exploited these racial fissures to reposition their party as the champion of ordinary white citizens besieged by black demands and overwhelmed by liberal government orders.
By analyzing Philadelphia's workplaces and neighborhoods, Wolfinger shows the ways in which politics played out on the personal level. People's experiences in their jobs and homes, he argues, fundamentally shaped how they thought about the crucial political issues of the day, including the New Deal and its relationship to the American people, the meaning of World War II in a country with an imperfect democracy, and the growth of the suburbs in the 1950s. As Wolfinger demonstrates, internal fractures in New Deal liberalism, the roots of modern conservatism, and the politics of race were all deeply intertwined. Their interplay highlights how the Republican Party reinvented itself in the mid-twentieth century by using race-based politics to destroy the Democrats' fledgling multiracial alliance while simultaneously building a coalition of its own.
By analyzing Philadelphia's workplaces and neighborhoods, Wolfinger shows the ways in which politics played out on the personal level. People's experiences in their jobs and homes, he argues, fundamentally shaped how they thought about the crucial political issues of the day, including the New Deal and its relationship to the American people, the meaning of World War II in a country with an imperfect democracy, and the growth of the suburbs in the 1950s. As Wolfinger demonstrates, internal fractures in New Deal liberalism, the roots of modern conservatism, and the politics of race were all deeply intertwined. Their interplay highlights how the Republican Party reinvented itself in the mid-twentieth century by using race-based politics to destroy the Democrats' fledgling multiracial alliance while simultaneously building a coalition of its own.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-7
- Part I. The New Deal Era
- 1. Philadelphia before the New Deal
- pp. 11-33
- 2. The Rise of New Deal Liberalism
- pp. 34-56
- 3. Black Politics
- pp. 57-82
- Part II. World War II
- 4. The Crucible of the Home Front
- pp. 85-112
- 5. Black Activism and the PTC
- pp. 113-141
- 6. The Philadelphia Transit Strike
- pp. 142-173
- Part III. The Postwar City
- 7. Moving Out
- pp. 177-211
- 8. The Politics of the FEPC
- pp. 212-241
- Conclusion
- pp. 242-248
- Bibliography
- pp. 285-307
Additional Information
ISBN
9781469603551
Related ISBN(s)
9780807831496, 9780807871904, 9780807878101
MARC Record
OCLC
701719376
Pages
336
Launched on MUSE
2013-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No