Civilizing Capitalism: The National Consumers' League, Women's Activism, and Labor Standards in the New Deal Era (Gender and American Culture)

Offering fresh insights into the history of labor policy, the New Deal, feminism, and southern politics, Landon Storrs examines the New Deal era of the National Consumers' League, one of the most influential reform organizations of the early twentieth century. Founded in 1899 by affluent women concerned about the exploitation of women wage earners, the National Consumers' League used a strategy of "ethical consumption" to spark a successful movement for state laws to reduce hours and establish minimum wages for women. During the Great Depression, it campaigned to raise labor standards in the unregulated, non-union South, hoping to discourage the relocation of manufacturers to the region because of cheaper labor and to break the downward spiral of labor standards nationwide. Promoting regulation of men's labor as well as women's, the league shaped the National Recovery Administration codes and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 but still battled the National Woman's Party, whose proposed equal rights amendment threatened sex-based labor laws. Using the National Consumers' League as a window on the nation's evolving reform tradition, Civilizing Capitalism explores what progressive feminists hoped for from the New Deal and why, despite significant victories, they ultimately were disappointed. 1. Investigate, Agitate, Legislate: The National Consumers' League -- 2. Toward Feminist Social Democracy: The Entering Wedge Strategy -- 3. A Subtle Program Come Down From The North?: The Consumers' League Develops A Southern Strategy -- 4. The Acid Test Of The New Deal: The National Recovery Administration, 1933-1935 -- 5. Bucking The Bourbons: Lucy Mason Organizes For The Consumers' League In The South -- 6. Agents Of The New Deal: Consumers' League Women Campaign In Virginia, South Carolina, And Kentucky -- 7. Ambiguous Victory: The Fair Labor Standards Act Of 1938 -- 8. Reaction: The Consumers' League Program Under Attack -- 9. Always Democracy: The Consumers' League In The Post-new Deal Era -- App. 1. National Consumers' League Officers, 1933 And 1941 -- App. 2. Biographical Data On Fifty Consumers' League Activists In The 1930s -- App. 3. Selected Landmarks In The History Of Labor Standards Regulation. Landon R.y. Storrs. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 357-381) And Index. Landon Storrs examines the New Deal era of the National Consumers' League, one of the most influential reform organizations of the early twentieth century. Her book offers fresh insights into the history of labor policy, the New Deal, feminism, and southern politics. Florence Kelley's father reportedly told her, "My generation has created industry, and your generation must humanize it."