The Depression brought unprecedented changes for American workers and organized labor. As the economy plummeted, employers cut wages and laid off workers, while simultaneously attempting to wrest more work from those who remained employed.
In mills, mines, and factories workers organized and resisted, striking for higher wages, improved working conditions, and the right to bargain collectively. As workers walked the picket line or sat down on the shop floor, they could be heard singing. This book examines the songs they sang at three different strikes- the Gastonia, North Carolina, textile mill strike (1929), Harlan County, Kentucky, coal mining strike (1931-32), and Flint, Michigan, automobile sit-down strike (1936-37).
Whether in the Carolina Piedmont, the Kentucky hills, or the streets of Michigan, the workers' songs were decidedly class-conscious. All show the workers' understanding of the necessity of solidarity and collective action.
In Flint the strikers sang:
The trouble in our homestead
Was brought about this way
When a dashing corporation
Had the audacity to say
You must all renounce your union
And forswear your liberties,
And we'll offer you a chance
To live and die in slavery.
As a shared experience, the singing of songs not only sent the message of collective action but also provided the very means by which the message was communicated and promoted. Singing was a communal experience, whether on picket lines, at union rallies, or on shop floors. By providing the psychological space for striking workers to speak their minds, singing nurtured a sense of community and class consciousness. When strikers retold the events of their strike, as they did in songs, they spread and preserved their common history and further strengthened the bonds among themselves.
In the strike songs the roles of gender were pronounced and vivid. Wives and mothers sang out of their concerns for home, family, and children. Men sang in the name of worker loyalty and brotherhood, championing male solidarity and comaraderie.
Informed by the new social history, this critical examination of strike songs from three different industries in three different regions gives voice to a group too often deemed as inarticulate. This study, the only book-length examination of this subject, tells history "from the bottom up" and furthers an understanding of worker culture during the tumultuous Depression years.
Timothy P. Lynch is an associate professor of history at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has been published in the Michigan Historical Review and the Encyclopedia of American Social History.
Le informazioni nella sezione "Riassunto" possono far riferimento a edizioni diverse di questo titolo.
The Depression-era politics of strikers' songs that called for solidarity and action
Book by Lynch Timothy P
Le informazioni nella sezione "Su questo libro" possono far riferimento a edizioni diverse di questo titolo.
Spese di spedizione:
EUR 4,03
In U.S.A.
Spese di spedizione:
EUR 2,37
In U.S.A.
Da: Murphy-Brookfield Books, Iowa City SE, IA, U.S.A.
Soft cover. Condizione: Fine. clean, unmarked copy. Codice articolo 367741
Quantità: 1 disponibili
Da: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Condizione: As New. Unread book in perfect condition. Codice articolo 5216097
Quantità: 5 disponibili
Da: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Condizione: New. Codice articolo 5216097-n
Quantità: 5 disponibili
Da: PBShop.store US, Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.
PAP. Condizione: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Codice articolo L0-9781934110362
Quantità: Più di 20 disponibili
Da: PBShop.store UK, Fairford, GLOS, Regno Unito
PAP. Condizione: New. New Book. Delivered from our UK warehouse in 4 to 14 business days. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Codice articolo L0-9781934110362
Quantità: Più di 20 disponibili
Da: Ria Christie Collections, Uxbridge, Regno Unito
Condizione: New. PRINT ON DEMAND Book; New; Fast Shipping from the UK. No. book. Codice articolo ria9781934110362_lsuk
Quantità: Più di 20 disponibili
Da: Revaluation Books, Exeter, Regno Unito
Paperback. Condizione: Brand New. 170 pages. 8.75x5.75x0.50 inches. In Stock. Codice articolo x-1934110361
Quantità: 2 disponibili
Da: Chiron Media, Wallingford, Regno Unito
PF. Condizione: New. Codice articolo 6666-IUK-9781934110362
Quantità: 10 disponibili
Da: THE SAINT BOOKSTORE, Southport, Regno Unito
Paperback / softback. Condizione: New. This item is printed on demand. New copy - Usually dispatched within 5-9 working days. Codice articolo C9781934110362
Quantità: 5 disponibili
Da: GreatBookPricesUK, Castle Donington, DERBY, Regno Unito
Condizione: New. Codice articolo 5216097-n
Quantità: 5 disponibili