Forging Rivals: Race, Class, Law, and the Collapse of Postwar Liberalism (Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society)

"The three decades after the end of World War II saw the rise and fall of a particular version of liberalism in which the state committed itself to promoting a modest form of economic egalitarianism while simultaneously embracing ethnic, racial, and religious pluralism. But by the mid-1970s, postwar liberalism was in a shambles: while its commitment to pluralism remained, its economic policies had been abandoned, and the Democratic Party, its primary political vehicle, was collapsing. Schiller attributes this demise to the legal architecture of postwar liberalism, arguing that postwar liberalism's goals of advancing economic egalitarianism and promoting pluralism ultimately conflicted with each other. Through the use of specific historical examples, Schiller demonstrates that postwar liberalism was riddled with legal and institutional contradictions that undermined progressive politics in the mid-twentieth-century United States"-- Provided by publisher The three decades after the end of World War II saw the rise and fall of a particular version of liberalism in which the state committed itself to promoting a modest form of economic egalitarianism while simultaneously embracing ethnic, racial, and religious pluralism. But by the mid-1970s, postwar liberalism was in a while its commitment to pluralism remained, its economic policies had been abandoned, and the Democratic Party, its primary political vehicle, was collapsing. Schiller attributes this demise to the legal architecture of postwar liberalism, arguing that postwar liberalism's goals of advancing economic egalitarianism and promoting pluralism ultimately conflicted with each other. Through the use of specific historical examples, Schiller demonstrates that postwar liberalism was riddled with legal and institutional contradictions that undermined progressive politics in the mid-twentieth century United States. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Title 4 Title 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 8 Epigraph 9 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Legal History and the Death of Postwar Liberalism 18 1 | Forging Postwar Liberalism 30 2 | Ed Rainbow's Problem 65 3 | The Phony Commission 98 4 | A Tale of Two Propositions 137 5 | 1966: A Terrible Year for George Johns 175 6 | “The Day of the Minstrel Show Is Over” 210 7 | Forging Rivals, Shattering Liberalism 237 List of Abbreviations for Archival Sources 274 Notes 278 Index 344