At the time of its original publication, Working-Class America represented the new labor history par excellence. A roster of noteworthy scholars in the field contribute original essays written during a pivotal time in the nation's history and within the discipline. Moving beyond historical-sociological analyses, the authors take readers inside the lives of the real men and women behind the statistics. The result is a classic collection focused on the human dimensions of the field, one valuable not only as a resource for historiography but as a snapshot of workers and their concerns in the 1980s.
Introduction Michael H. Frisch and Daniel J. Walkowitz ix
The Social System of Early New England Textile Mills: A Case Study, 1812-40 Jonathan Prude 1
Artisan Republican Festivals and the Rise of Class Conflict in New York City, 1788-1837 Sean Wilentz 37
The Origins of the Sweatshop: Women and Early Industrialization in New York City Christine Stansell 78
The Uses of Political Power: Toward a Theory of the Labor Movement in the Era of the Knights of Labor Leon Fink 104
The Triumph of Commerce: Class Culture and Mass Culture in Pittsburgh Francis G. Couvares 123
Trade-Union Evangelism: Religion and the AFL in the Labor Forward Movement, 1912-16 Elizabeth and Kenneth Fones-Wolf 153
"The Customers Ain't God": The Work Culture of Department-Store Saleswomen, 1890-1940 Susan Porter Benson 185
Dress Rehearsal for the New Deal: Shop-Floor Insurgents, Political Elites, and Industrial Democracy in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Steve Fraser 212
Catholics, Communists, and Republicans: Irish Workers and the Organization of the Transport Workers Union Joshua B. Freeman 256
Conflict over Workers' Control: The Automobile Industry in World War II Nelson Lichtenstein 284
Notes on Contributors 312
