Law and the Shaping of the American Labor Movement

Why did American workers, unlike their European counterparts, fail to forge a class-based movement to pursue broad social reform? Was it simply that they lacked class consciousness and were more interested in personal mobility? In a richly detailed survey of labor law and labor history, William Forbath challenges this notion of American "individualism." In fact, he argues, the nineteenth-century American labor movement was much like Europe's labor movements in its social and political outlook, but in the decades around the turn of the century, the prevailing attitude of American trade unionists changed. Forbath shows that, over time, struggles with the courts and the legal order were crucial to reshaping labor's outlook, driving the labor movement to temper its radical goals. Explores how the specific structures and traditions of American law contributed towards shaping the labour movement's and its members' identities, material interests, and capacities for collective action, especially in the years 1880 to 1930. Argues that over time struggles with the courts and the legal order were crucial to reshaping labour's goals and to temper its claims In a richly detailed survey of labor law and labor history, Forbath challenges the notion of American “individualism.” He shows that, over time, struggles with the courts and the legal order were crucial in reshaping labor’s outlook, driving the labor movement to temper its radical goals. William E. Forbath. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.