Reinventing ""The People"": The Progressive Movement, the Class Problem, and the Origins of Modern Liberalism (Working Class in American History)

In this much needed comprehensive study of the Progressive movement, its reformers, their ideology, and the social circumstances they tried to change, Shelton Stromquist contends that the persistence of class conflict in America challenged the very defining feature of Progressivism: its promise of social harmony through democratic renewal. Profiling the movement's work in diverse arenas of social reform, politics, labour regulation and race improvement, Stromquist argues that while progressive reformers may have emphasized different programs, they crafted a common language of social reconciliation in which an imagined civic community (the People) would transcend parochial class and political loyalties. As progressive reformers sought to reinvent a society in which class had no enduring place, they also marginalized new immigrants and African Americans as being unprepared for civic responsibilities. In so doing, Stromquist argues that Progressives laid the foundation for twentieth-century liberals' inability to see their world in class terms and to conceive of social remedies that might alter the structures of class power. A comprehensive study of the Progressive movement, Reinventing'The People'contends that the persistence of class conflict in America challenged the very defining feature of Progressivism: its promise of social harmony through democratic renewal. Shelton Stromquist profiles the movement's work in diverse arenas of social reform, politics, labor regulation and so-called race improvement. While these reformers emphasized different programs, they crafted a common language of social reconciliation in which an imagined civic community--'the People'--would transcend parochial class and political loyalties. But efforts to invent a society without enduring class lines marginalized new immigrants and African Americans by declaring them unprepared for civic responsibilities. In so doing, Progressives laid the foundation for twentieth-century liberals'inability to see their world in class terms and to conceive of social remedies that might alter the structures of class power. A comprehensive study of the Progressive movement, Reinventing "The People" contends that the persistence of class conflict in America challenged the very defining feature of its promise of social harmony through democratic renewal. Shelton Stromquist profiles the movement's work in diverse arenas of social reform, politics, labor regulation and so-called race improvement. While these reformers emphasized different programs, they crafted a common language of social reconciliation in which an imagined civic community--"the People"--would transcend parochial class and political loyalties. But efforts to invent a society without enduring class lines marginalized new immigrants and African Americans by declaring them unprepared for civic responsibilities. In so doing, Progressives laid the foundation for twentieth-century liberals' inability to see their world in class terms and to conceive of social remedies that might alter the structures of class power. The Labor Problem And The Crisis Of The Old Order -- Constituting Progressivism -- The Politics Of Reform -- Communities Of Reformers -- Class Bridging And The World Of Female Reform -- The Boundaries Of Difference -- Class Wars And The Crisis Of Progressivism -- Conclusion: War And The Ragged Edges Of Reform. Shelton Stromquist. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [205]-276) And Index. The labor problem and the crisis of the old order Constituting progressivism The political universe of reform Communities of reformers Class bridging and the world of female reform The boundaries of difference: race and progress Class wars and the crisis of progressivism. Stalwart labor reformer George McNeill spoke for a growing segment of working-class partisans in the 1880s who believed class conflict had become an endemic feature of industrial society and saw a war of seemingly irreconcilable class interests as inevitable.