Posted by David Bernstein:
Review of "Blacks and Organized Labor: A New History" by Paul Moreno
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_01_14-2007_01_20.shtml#1169176894
My review of this book [1]has been published in the Independent
Review. Here's an excerpt:
The intellectual and ideological follies of contemporary historical
scholarship are especially prevalent in the field of labor history.
Absurd Marxist paradigms flourish there. The vast majority of labor
historians are completely innocent of any knowledge of modern
economics, including labor economics, despite its obvious relevance
to a coherent understanding of labor-management relations. Reading
a typical labor history book requires the reader to ignore or
�translate� a great deal of ideological claptrap, incoherent
analysis, and tendentious interpretation to absorb whatever useful
information the author has uncovered. Given the state of the field,
Paul Moreno�s excellent [2]Black Americans and Organized Labor: A
New History comes as an especially welcome breath of fresh air.
Moreno tackles a very important and also very �hot� topic in U.S
labor history� the often tumultuous relationship between African
Americans and labor unions. Black Americans and Organized Labor is
by far the most comprehensive, most coherent, and best-documented
work on the subject. Moreno�s command of the relevant literature is
outstanding, and his detective work in locating many obscure but
important sources is impressive.
Even better, Moreno approaches the subject without the leftist
ideological baggage that burdens most other writers in the field
and with a good grasp of relevant economic concepts. In particular,
he understands that contrary to illusory notions of innate worker
solidarity, individual workers and groups of workers have widely
varying economic interests. He holds no romantic or ideological
illusions about labor unions; he understands that their basic
economic goal is to create a labor cartel for their members�
benefit.
Another impressive feature of this book is that Moreno, unlike many
historians, does not treat black workers and the black people more
generally as passive bit players in a larger class conflict between
�capital� and �lab or.� Nor, unlike many historians, does he pay
disproportionate attention to the relatively few examples of
racially egalitarian unions in the pre�New Deal period, which some
historians use as purported exemplars of the true spirit of labor
solidarity. Rather, he properly treats African Americans as
striving as best they can to promote their individual and
collective well-being in a hostile economic and social
environment....
[Q]quibbles aside, Black Americans and Organized Labor is truly a
major accomplishment, and I recommend it highly for readers with an
interest in U.S. history. Though it is difficult to predict what
will occur in the quirky and highly ideological left-wing world of
labor history scholarship, Moreno�s book should quickly become the
standard work on the relationship between blacks and labor unions.
Those interested in this general topic should also look at my [3]Only
One Place of Redress: African Americans Labor Regulations and the
Courts from Reconstruction to the New Deal, and Ken Kersch's
[4]Constructing Civil Liberties.
References
1.
http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=48&articleID=619
2.
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Americans-Organized-Labor-History/dp/080713094X/sr=1-1/qid=1169176744/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7756212-6156039?ie=UTF8&s=books
3.
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Place-Redress-African-Americans-Reconstruction/dp/0822325837/sr=1-1/qid=1169176826/ref=sr_1_1/002-7756212-6156039?ie=UTF8&s=books
4.
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Place-Redress-African-Americans-Reconstruction/dp/0822325837/sr=1-1/qid=1169176826/ref=sr_1_1/002-7756212-6156039?ie=UTF8&s=books
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
