Steel and Steelworkers: Race and Class in Twentieth-Century Pittsburgh by John Hinshaw (review)

core reasons for the nation' s successes over the past century and therefore ought not be tampered with. He worried about an unrestrained majority recalling judges, overruling legislation, and corrupting the nomination process through the direct primary. These steps, Taft feared, would lead inevitablv to anarchy. The final chapters of Popular Government are based on the purposes of government as outlined in the constitution: " In Order to Form a More Perfect Union," " To Establish Justice (Parts I, II, and III),and " To Insure Domestic Tranquility, Provide for the Common Defense." In each of these sections, Taft has a reassuring, if antidemocratic , message. He thought the American system worked well, and needed only mild,gradual, reform. Donald E Anderson, chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, introduced Tbe AntiTiltst Act and The Supreme Court in which Taft argued that most politicians and the public at large misunderstood both the 1890 Sherman AntiTrust Act and the Supreme Court's decisions regarding that landmark legislation. Unlike many contemporaries who criticized both the Act and the Court for " judicial legislation" in its enforcement, Taft thought the Sherman Act was fully in line with America' s common law traditions, and did not need substantial revision in order to be effective. Still,the antitrust issue was a political hot potato and he ac- I . » knowledged the political difficulties * 3 « »1 - 1 in addressing the Sherman Act,since fil -, 1 the superlatives of stump oratory 4, , / 9'' have been substituted for a clear , statement of the scope and operation of the law." ( 175) In keeping with his inclination to distrust the impassioned pleas of the majority f)it\ ill\» 11.\ and his advocacy for incremental reform, Taft argued that the law had smart, concise, and useful. Perhaps both authors could have prow,ided more context for their comments in order to reach a wider audience, but their reluctance to explain every detail is understandable. They know their readers and few nonspecialists would pick up a copy of Tbe Collected Works of William Hou, ard Taft: Volume V. Still, William Howard Taft, with some clarification from the editors, presents a nuanced version of a conservatism deep]y rooted in tradition and based on serious, thoughtful arguments. Anyone interested in understanding the origins of modern American conservatism in the Republican Party should read this volume. Stephen Tootle University of North Carolina John Hinshaw. Steel and Steelworkers: Race and Class in TwentiethCentury Pittsburgb. Albany,NY: State University of New York Press, 2002. 348 pp. ISBN: 0791452263 ( paper), $ 25.95. ohn Hinshaw' s Steel and SteelworkSTEEL AND STEELWORKERS ers paints a familiar portrait of steelworkers in Pittsburgh who enjoyed r .....: r, lizy PIN...* Ile ,/ 134/ a relatively high standard of living even 4»b.]* as they were exploited by capital. Like p*, R] * ' many other workers throughout the F-.. Ii / .]-{ . twentieth century they struggled to improve working conditions and their im . /./.... through unions that were fractured»« * ' j== 4 by race,ethnicity and genden But ultimately with the onset of deindustrialization ,neither unions nor labor law could protect either workers or the industry itself. ( 108) worked,was working,and would continue to be an While both labor and capital played a part in this effective tool for justice if properly interpreted. tragedy, Hinshaw' s greatest contribution to labor The commentary of Potash and Anderson is studies lies in his viewing both parties as operating FALL 2004 89 BOOK REVIEWS within the constrains of a state that dictated both limits and potentialities for labor progress in the Steel City. Specifically,the state gave business free rein to police industry or,acting as a " Fairy Godmother ," offered tax breaks to businesses and only limited enforcement of labor laws. It thereby set the stage for growth of big business in Pittsburgh during the first part of the twentieth century and its unprecedented power. ( 62, 65) In the latter half of the century,ideologies of " consensus"and the American way of life" muted class conflict by portraying America as a " classless society, at the same time that militancy against racial and gender discrimination were sacrificed on the altar of the Cold War. ( 108, 173 & 103) Finally,deindustrialization emerged as both a...