Civic Labors: Scholar Activism and Working-Class Studies

by Dennis A. Deslippe (Editor), Eric Fure-Slocum (Editor), John W. McKerley (Editor), Kristen Anderson (Contribution by), Daniel E Atkinson (Contribution by)

Overview

Labor studies scholars and working-class historians have long worked at the crossroads of academia and activism. The essays in this collection examine the challenges and opportunities for engaged scholarship in the United States and abroad. A diverse roster of contributors discuss how participation in current labor and social struggles guides their campus and community organizing, public history initiatives, teaching, mentoring, and other activities. They also explore the role of research and scholarship in social change, while acknowledging that intellectual labor complements but never replaces collective action and movement building. Contributors: Kristen Anderson, Daniel E. Atkinson, James R. Barrett, Susan Roth Breitzer, Susan Chandler, Sam Davies, Dennis Deslippe, Eric Fure-Slocum, Colin Gordon, Michael Innis-Jiménez, Stephanie Luce, Joseph A. McCartin, John W. McKerley, Matthew M. Mettler, Stephen Meyer, David Montgomery, Kim E. Nielsen, Peter Rachleff, Ralph Scharnau, Jennifer Sherer, Shelton Stromquist, Emily E. LB. Twarog, and John Williams-Searle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252098932
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	10/17/2016
Series:	Working Class in American History , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Dennis Deslippe is an associate professor of American studies and women's and gender studies at Franklin and Marshall College. He is the author of ""Rights, not Roses"": Unions and the Rise of Working-Class Feminism, 1945-1980. Eric Fure-Slocum is an associate professor of history at St. Olaf College and the author of Contesting the Postwar City: Working-Class and Growth Politics in 1940s Milwaukee. John W. McKerley is a research associate at the University of Iowa Labor Center and coeditor of Foot Soldiers for Democracy: The Men, Women, and Children of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement.

Table of Contents

Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Challenges of Engaged Scholarship and Teaching / Dennis Deslippe, Eric Fure-Slocum, and John W. McKerley 1. Labor Historians and Traditions of Engaged Scholarship: Progressives, Insurgents, and the Making of a New Labor History / Shelton Stromquist Part I. Encountering Conflict, Power, and Hope: On the Front Line Introduction / John Williams-Searle 2. Beyond Yeshiva: The Struggle for Faculty Power at the University of Dubuque / Ralph Scharnau 3. “Feets Don’t Fail Me Now”: Navigating an Unpaved, Rocky Road to, through, and from the Last Slave Plantation / Daniel E. Atkinson 4. Wandering through the Wisconsin Uprising / Stephen Meyer 5. Immigrants in a Disaster Zone: Teaching, Learning, and Advocating Alabama’s New Civil Rights Movement / Michael Innis-Jiménez 6. Remembering the 1911 General Transport Strike in Liverpool / Sam Davies Part II. Connecting Classrooms and Communities: Education, Outreach, and Engagement Introduction / Matthew M. Mettler 7. The Great Unspoken: Teaching and Learning Working-Class History from the Seminar Room to the Union Hall / James R. Barrett 8. Teaching Labor History on the Middle Ground: Connecting the Campus, the Union Hall, and the Community / Peter Rachleff 9. The Difference a Union Makes: Graduate Employee Activists’ Engaged Scholarship and Their Working Lives / Susan Roth Breitzer 10. Making History Every Day: The Iowa Labor History Oral Project and Popular Education / Jennifer Sherer 11. The Polk School: Intersections of Women’s Labor Leadership Education and the Public Sphere / Emily E. LB. Twarog Part III. Bridging Scholarship and Activism: Introduction / Kristen Anderson 12. Launching the Kalmanovitz Initiative: A Labor Historian’s Labor History / Joseph A. McCartin 13. My Life as a Wonk / Colin Gordon 14. “The Soul Puts Together Its Pieces”: Lessons from the Casino Floor / Susan Chandler 15. Disability and Labor Activism: The Pains and Joys of Coalitions / Kim E. Nielsen 16. Engaged Scholarship and the Living-Wage Movement / Stephanie Luce Epilogue. Carry It On!: Creative Research and Social Action / David Montgomery Contributors Index

Editorial Reviews

"At once an introduction to the long tradition of engaged scholarship among labor historians and a guide to the richly varied ways many have found to make a difference today, Civic Labors is a perfectly timed treasure trove of inspiration."—Nancy MacLean, author of Freedom Is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace

"These essays provide illuminating insights into what it means to be an engaged academic and citizen of labor. Graced by Shelton Stromquist's sharp essay and David Montgomery's endearing comments, in this one volume we find a true community of scholars who seek to understand and change the world."—Michael Honey, author of Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign


"This book makes an important contribution to the field of working-class studies by offering a 'sober-yet hopeful' outlook on the challenges and opportunities of scholar activism." —Capital & Class

"Addresses the many ways scholars can be and are activists outside the ivory tower, as well as the risks that they may face when they engage in this activism. . . . Readers will be reminded why they became labor historians."—Journal of American History

"This is a must-read for labour activists, scholarly or not."—Labour/Le Travail

"This publication is a well-deserved tribute to Stromquist, who is held in the highest regard by labor historians for his keen intellect, generous spirit, and commitment to social justice." —Labor: Studies in Working-Class History

From the Publisher