Cecelia Tichi
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469622668
- eISBN:
- 9781469625065
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622668.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter focuses on Jack London's fight against the unbridled capitalism that he believed was the root cause of the pandemic of human misery and degradation during his time, along with his ...
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This chapter focuses on Jack London's fight against the unbridled capitalism that he believed was the root cause of the pandemic of human misery and degradation during his time, along with his efforts to swing public opinion to his side in the late 1890s. Over London's lifetime, the capitalists had transformed America into an economic system that he accused of being exploitative. The last quarter of the nineteenth century—the years of London's life—was dubbed the era of Big Business, that is, the era of triumphant laissez-faire capitalism. This chapter examines how London fought this economic system by drawing on the popularity of boxing, both its figures of speech and its ideology of blows exchanged over many rounds. It also considers London's promotion of socialism that pit him against Ivy Ledbetter Lee; they waged their battle in the court—on the canvas—of public opinion.Less
This chapter focuses on Jack London's fight against the unbridled capitalism that he believed was the root cause of the pandemic of human misery and degradation during his time, along with his efforts to swing public opinion to his side in the late 1890s. Over London's lifetime, the capitalists had transformed America into an economic system that he accused of being exploitative. The last quarter of the nineteenth century—the years of London's life—was dubbed the era of Big Business, that is, the era of triumphant laissez-faire capitalism. This chapter examines how London fought this economic system by drawing on the popularity of boxing, both its figures of speech and its ideology of blows exchanged over many rounds. It also considers London's promotion of socialism that pit him against Ivy Ledbetter Lee; they waged their battle in the court—on the canvas—of public opinion.
Melissa Aronczyk and Maria I. Espinoza
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- December 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780190055349
- eISBN:
- 9780190055387
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190055349.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture, Science, Technology and Environment
Chapter 2, Bringing the Outside In, examines the industrial infrastructures within which the burgeoning profession of public relations coalesced: rail, steel, and coal, and the simultaneous ...
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Chapter 2, Bringing the Outside In, examines the industrial infrastructures within which the burgeoning profession of public relations coalesced: rail, steel, and coal, and the simultaneous development of information infrastructures to situate these industries as paragons of democracy in the American imagination. It was in struggles over labor rights, workers’ rights, employee welfare, and industrial reform that the practice of public relations forged its methods, as scions of power and privilege attempted to manage the “external environment” of public and political opinion to reduce friction for the machinations of heavy industry. While the “external environment” does not directly map onto the natural environment, we see in these struggles the porousness of the boundaries between the inside and the outside of industrial production, allowing industrial leaders to control the outside world in addition to the one within their walls.Less
Chapter 2, Bringing the Outside In, examines the industrial infrastructures within which the burgeoning profession of public relations coalesced: rail, steel, and coal, and the simultaneous development of information infrastructures to situate these industries as paragons of democracy in the American imagination. It was in struggles over labor rights, workers’ rights, employee welfare, and industrial reform that the practice of public relations forged its methods, as scions of power and privilege attempted to manage the “external environment” of public and political opinion to reduce friction for the machinations of heavy industry. While the “external environment” does not directly map onto the natural environment, we see in these struggles the porousness of the boundaries between the inside and the outside of industrial production, allowing industrial leaders to control the outside world in addition to the one within their walls.
C.W. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190492335
- eISBN:
- 9780190492373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190492335.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter chronicles the manner by which data and documents were incorporated into journalism in the early twentieth century, examining the intersection between social movements, progressive ...
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This chapter chronicles the manner by which data and documents were incorporated into journalism in the early twentieth century, examining the intersection between social movements, progressive politics, public relations, and journalism. It analyzes the MRFM, a religious movement that used the accumulation of empirical data about urban conditions as both a mobilizing and public relations tool in order to advance social causes.Less
This chapter chronicles the manner by which data and documents were incorporated into journalism in the early twentieth century, examining the intersection between social movements, progressive politics, public relations, and journalism. It analyzes the MRFM, a religious movement that used the accumulation of empirical data about urban conditions as both a mobilizing and public relations tool in order to advance social causes.