The Conspiracy of Capital : Law, Violence, and American Popular Radicalism in the Age of Monopoly

"Between the 1880s and 1920s, a broad coalition of American dissidents, which included rabble-rousing cartoonists, civil liberties lawyers, socialist detectives, union organizers, and revolutionary martyrs, forged a culture of popular radicalism that directly challenged an emergent corporate capitalism. Monopoly capitalists and their allies in government responded by expanding conspiracy laws and promoting conspiracy theories in an effort to destroy this anti-capitalist movement. The result was an escalating class conflict in which each side came to view the other as a criminal conspiracy. In this detailed cultural history, Michael Mark Cohen argues that a legal, ideological, and representational politics of conspiracy contributed to the formation of a genuinely revolutionary mass culture in the United States, starting with the 1886 Haymarket bombing. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, The Conspiracy of Capital offers a new history of American radicalism and the alliance between the modern business corporation and national security state through a comprehensive reassessment of the role of conspiracy laws and conspiracy theories in American social movements"--Back cover Between the 1880s and 1920s, a broad coalition of American dissidents, which included rabble-rousing cartoonists, civil liberties lawyers, socialist detectives, union organizers, and revolutionary martyrs, forged a culture of popular radicalism that directly challenged an emergent corporate capitalism. Monopoly capitalists and their allies in government responded by expanding conspiracy laws and promoting conspiracy theories in an effort to destroy this anti-capitalist movement. The result was an escalating class conflict in which each side came to view the other as a criminal conspiracy.0In this detailed cultural history, Michael Mark Cohen argues that a legal, ideological, and representational politics of conspiracy contributed to the formation of a genuinely revolutionary mass culture in the United States, starting with the 1886 Haymarket bombing. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, 'The Conspiracy of Capital' offers a new history of American radicalism and the alliance between the modern business corporation and national security state through a comprehensive reassessment of the role of conspiracy laws and conspiracy theories in American social movements Cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Contents Preface and Acknowledgments: Co-conspirators Introduction: “The Conspiracy of Capital”, The Dialectics of Conspiracy in the Age of Monopoly Chapter 1. “This Worn-Out Piece of Tyranny”, Clarence Darrow, the Haymarket Generation, and the Secret History of Conspiracy Law Chapter 2. “Sensational Writing and a Fight”, Dangerous Knowledge, Socialist Detectives, and the Rise and Fall of the Appeal to Reason Chapter 3. “The Marks of Capital”, The Wobblies versus the Invisible Government Chapter 4. “The Ku Klux Government”, Law and Terror in the Red Scare Conclusion: “Will Fascism Come to America?”, Civil Liberties, Antifascism, and the Legacy of the Haymarket Generation Notes Index Back Cover