Mark Curthoys
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268894
- eISBN:
- 9780191708466
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268894.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This is a study of how mid-Victorian Britain and its specialist advisers, in an age of free trade and the minimal state, attempted to create a viable legal framework for trade unions and strikes. It ...
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This is a study of how mid-Victorian Britain and its specialist advisers, in an age of free trade and the minimal state, attempted to create a viable legal framework for trade unions and strikes. It traces the collapse, in the face of judicial interventions, of the regime for collective labour devised by the Liberal Tories in the 1820s, following the repeal of the Combination Acts. The new arrangements enacted in the 1870s allowed collective labour unparalleled freedoms, contended by the newly-founded Trades Union Congress. This book seeks to reinstate the view from government into an account of how the settlement was brought about, tracing the emergence of an official view — largely independent of external pressure — which favoured withdrawing the criminal law from peaceful industrial relations and allowing a virtually unrestricted freedom to combine. It reviews the impact upon the Home Office's specialist advisers of contemporary intellectual trends, such as the assaults upon classical and political economy and the historicised critiques of labour law developed by Liberal writers. The book offers an historical context for the major court decisions affecting the security of trade union funds, and the freedom to strike, while the views of the judges are integrated within the terms of a wider debate between proponents of contending views of ‘free trade’ and ‘free labour’. New evidence sheds light on the considerations which impelled governments to grant trade unions a distinctive form of legal existence, and to protect strikers from the criminal law.Less
This is a study of how mid-Victorian Britain and its specialist advisers, in an age of free trade and the minimal state, attempted to create a viable legal framework for trade unions and strikes. It traces the collapse, in the face of judicial interventions, of the regime for collective labour devised by the Liberal Tories in the 1820s, following the repeal of the Combination Acts. The new arrangements enacted in the 1870s allowed collective labour unparalleled freedoms, contended by the newly-founded Trades Union Congress. This book seeks to reinstate the view from government into an account of how the settlement was brought about, tracing the emergence of an official view — largely independent of external pressure — which favoured withdrawing the criminal law from peaceful industrial relations and allowing a virtually unrestricted freedom to combine. It reviews the impact upon the Home Office's specialist advisers of contemporary intellectual trends, such as the assaults upon classical and political economy and the historicised critiques of labour law developed by Liberal writers. The book offers an historical context for the major court decisions affecting the security of trade union funds, and the freedom to strike, while the views of the judges are integrated within the terms of a wider debate between proponents of contending views of ‘free trade’ and ‘free labour’. New evidence sheds light on the considerations which impelled governments to grant trade unions a distinctive form of legal existence, and to protect strikers from the criminal law.
Price V. Fishback
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195067255
- eISBN:
- 9780199855025
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195067255.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Coal mining offered the opportunity to earn money quickly during booms, but it was a dirty, dangerous job often located in isolated little towns. To protect themselves against exploitation by ...
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Coal mining offered the opportunity to earn money quickly during booms, but it was a dirty, dangerous job often located in isolated little towns. To protect themselves against exploitation by employers, coal miners exercised both voice and exit. The voice came in the form of collective action either through the formation of labor unions or labor strikes. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) enhanced the welfare of their members in several ways. Within the coal industry, miners obtained higher wages by joining the union and striking. The union did not necessarily lead to a better situation in all phases of the job, however. Accident rates were no lower in union than in non-union mines, nor was the quality of sanitation better, holding other factors constant. Blacks were welcomed into the union in the mining areas where they had long been located, but a number of union locals in the North treated blacks as pariahs. The UMWA was crushed along with the coal operators by the deterioration of the industry in the late 1920s and early 1930s.Less
Coal mining offered the opportunity to earn money quickly during booms, but it was a dirty, dangerous job often located in isolated little towns. To protect themselves against exploitation by employers, coal miners exercised both voice and exit. The voice came in the form of collective action either through the formation of labor unions or labor strikes. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) enhanced the welfare of their members in several ways. Within the coal industry, miners obtained higher wages by joining the union and striking. The union did not necessarily lead to a better situation in all phases of the job, however. Accident rates were no lower in union than in non-union mines, nor was the quality of sanitation better, holding other factors constant. Blacks were welcomed into the union in the mining areas where they had long been located, but a number of union locals in the North treated blacks as pariahs. The UMWA was crushed along with the coal operators by the deterioration of the industry in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
John McGarry and Brendan O'Leary
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199266579
- eISBN:
- 9780191601446
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199266573.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
The chapter is highly critical of the Wilson cabinet's failure to defend Northern Ireland's first consociational experiment, the Sunningdale Agreement, although it concedes that this agreement may ...
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The chapter is highly critical of the Wilson cabinet's failure to defend Northern Ireland's first consociational experiment, the Sunningdale Agreement, although it concedes that this agreement may have had an inevitable encounter with a coroner. It analyses the government's reaction to the 1974 strike by the Ulster Workers Council, which led to the demise of Sunningdale. The chapter also illustrates the limits of the Callaghan government's policies in Northern Ireland, including its flawed experiments in ‘Ulsterization’, ‘normalization’, and ‘criminalization’.Less
The chapter is highly critical of the Wilson cabinet's failure to defend Northern Ireland's first consociational experiment, the Sunningdale Agreement, although it concedes that this agreement may have had an inevitable encounter with a coroner. It analyses the government's reaction to the 1974 strike by the Ulster Workers Council, which led to the demise of Sunningdale. The chapter also illustrates the limits of the Callaghan government's policies in Northern Ireland, including its flawed experiments in ‘Ulsterization’, ‘normalization’, and ‘criminalization’.
Peter A. Swenson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195142976
- eISBN:
- 9780199872190
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195142977.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter turns to an explanation of welfare state development in Sweden, where ironically, the major strides had to wait until the 1940s and 1950s, although Sweden's progressive political forces ...
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This chapter turns to an explanation of welfare state development in Sweden, where ironically, the major strides had to wait until the 1940s and 1950s, although Sweden's progressive political forces seemed stronger than America's in the 1930s. First it looks at why. Because of their solidaristic system of labor market governance, capitalists in Sweden would benefit from progressive reforms in times of acute labor scarcity (associated with postwar macroeconomic conditions) rather than the reverse as in the U.S. Then it analyzes how the Social Democratic government's very modest unemployment insurance and pension reforms of the 1930s served solidarism's need for low levels of militancy and heightened labor mobility, and thus helped forge the kind of cross‐class alliance that was to secure a long reign of peaceful relations between labor and capital under a leftist government.Less
This chapter turns to an explanation of welfare state development in Sweden, where ironically, the major strides had to wait until the 1940s and 1950s, although Sweden's progressive political forces seemed stronger than America's in the 1930s. First it looks at why. Because of their solidaristic system of labor market governance, capitalists in Sweden would benefit from progressive reforms in times of acute labor scarcity (associated with postwar macroeconomic conditions) rather than the reverse as in the U.S. Then it analyzes how the Social Democratic government's very modest unemployment insurance and pension reforms of the 1930s served solidarism's need for low levels of militancy and heightened labor mobility, and thus helped forge the kind of cross‐class alliance that was to secure a long reign of peaceful relations between labor and capital under a leftist government.
Ted Gest
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195103434
- eISBN:
- 9780199833887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195103432.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Much of the increase in crime that hit the US in the 1980s and 1990s was blamed on habitual offenders. For many years, prison wardens and parole boards had decided when most inmates would be ...
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Much of the increase in crime that hit the US in the 1980s and 1990s was blamed on habitual offenders. For many years, prison wardens and parole boards had decided when most inmates would be released. Legislators came to believe that this system was too lenient and enacted tougher penalties. When even these extended terms behind bars did not seem to work, activists came up with a new formulation, “three strikes and you’re out,” meaning that a third serious crime would bring a life term. Commentator John Carlson started a campaign for such a scheme in Washington State in the 1980s; it was enacted in 1993, the height of modern‐day crime totals. The concept quickly spread in California after the infamous kidnapping and killing of 12‐year‐old Polly Klaas that same year. President Bill Clinton embraced the idea for federal crimes, and at least two dozen states adopted some form of it. Experts disputed how much three strikes or any other tough sentencing laws affected the crime declines of the 1990s. Still, prison building continued at a high rate during the 1990s, with the combined population in prisons and jails approaching 2 million. Critics argued that three strikes and ‘mandatory minimum’ prison term laws were incarcerating far too many low‐level offenders who would end up back on the streets committing more crimes after years of imprisonment with little vocational or educational training. As the costs of running prisons mounted, some policymakers were seriously rethinking the punitive practices of the late 20th century, but no dramatic turnaround was in sight.Less
Much of the increase in crime that hit the US in the 1980s and 1990s was blamed on habitual offenders. For many years, prison wardens and parole boards had decided when most inmates would be released. Legislators came to believe that this system was too lenient and enacted tougher penalties. When even these extended terms behind bars did not seem to work, activists came up with a new formulation, “three strikes and you’re out,” meaning that a third serious crime would bring a life term. Commentator John Carlson started a campaign for such a scheme in Washington State in the 1980s; it was enacted in 1993, the height of modern‐day crime totals. The concept quickly spread in California after the infamous kidnapping and killing of 12‐year‐old Polly Klaas that same year. President Bill Clinton embraced the idea for federal crimes, and at least two dozen states adopted some form of it. Experts disputed how much three strikes or any other tough sentencing laws affected the crime declines of the 1990s. Still, prison building continued at a high rate during the 1990s, with the combined population in prisons and jails approaching 2 million. Critics argued that three strikes and ‘mandatory minimum’ prison term laws were incarcerating far too many low‐level offenders who would end up back on the streets committing more crimes after years of imprisonment with little vocational or educational training. As the costs of running prisons mounted, some policymakers were seriously rethinking the punitive practices of the late 20th century, but no dramatic turnaround was in sight.
Gary Scott Smith
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195300604
- eISBN:
- 9780199785285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300604.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
To many, Theodore Roosevelt was an exemplar of manliness and “muscular Christianity” and an exceptional public servant who led a crusade for social justice. To others, the sage of Oyster Bay was a ...
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To many, Theodore Roosevelt was an exemplar of manliness and “muscular Christianity” and an exceptional public servant who led a crusade for social justice. To others, the sage of Oyster Bay was a jingoist, a nativist, a hot-tempered, unpredictable manic, and an egomaniac who put his own interests above America’s good. Roosevelt highly valued biblical morality and considered it vital to personal and public life, including politics. He downplayed doctrine and theological differences and strongly stressed the importance of good works and character. Many contemporaries called him a preacher of righteousness, and he labeled the presidency a bully pulpit, which he used to trumpet the importance of social justice, civility, and virtue. Three religious issues caused considerable controversy during Roosevelt’s tenure in office: his attempt to remove “In God We Trust” from some coins, the “Dear Maria” affair, and concerns about William Howard Taft’s Unitarianism during the 1908 presidential campaign. Christianity, especially the version espoused by turn-of-the-century Social Gospelers, played a significant role in shaping his philosophy of government. Roosevelt’s role in mediating the 1902 anthracite coal strike, “taking” Panama to build an isthmus canal, and promoting conservation illustrate how his religious commitments helped shape his policies.Less
To many, Theodore Roosevelt was an exemplar of manliness and “muscular Christianity” and an exceptional public servant who led a crusade for social justice. To others, the sage of Oyster Bay was a jingoist, a nativist, a hot-tempered, unpredictable manic, and an egomaniac who put his own interests above America’s good. Roosevelt highly valued biblical morality and considered it vital to personal and public life, including politics. He downplayed doctrine and theological differences and strongly stressed the importance of good works and character. Many contemporaries called him a preacher of righteousness, and he labeled the presidency a bully pulpit, which he used to trumpet the importance of social justice, civility, and virtue. Three religious issues caused considerable controversy during Roosevelt’s tenure in office: his attempt to remove “In God We Trust” from some coins, the “Dear Maria” affair, and concerns about William Howard Taft’s Unitarianism during the 1908 presidential campaign. Christianity, especially the version espoused by turn-of-the-century Social Gospelers, played a significant role in shaping his philosophy of government. Roosevelt’s role in mediating the 1902 anthracite coal strike, “taking” Panama to build an isthmus canal, and promoting conservation illustrate how his religious commitments helped shape his policies.
Keith Robbins
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198263715
- eISBN:
- 9780191714283
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263715.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
This chapter reflects on ‘remembrance’ after the Great War — memorials and services. It notes a new modern world and the advent of radio broadcasting. It considers currents of belief and unbelief. ...
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This chapter reflects on ‘remembrance’ after the Great War — memorials and services. It notes a new modern world and the advent of radio broadcasting. It considers currents of belief and unbelief. Internationally, Christian-Jewish relations, missionary activity and imperialism, and the issues posed by the new Europe come to the fore. The 1926 General Strike is placed in the context of contemporary Church social and economic thinking, but the political limitations are exposed. In England, both the new Church National Assembly and the Revised Prayer Book controversy of 1927-8 reveal church-state tensions. The partition of Ireland, British-Irish church and political relations, and church-state relations in the new Irish structures (Irish Free State and Northern Ireland), are considered. Disestablishment in Wales and post-war change in Scotland place these developments in context. Evidence of social division and political dislocation partly explains renewed interest in church unity, but no rapid change is evident despite the reunification of the Church of Scotland.Less
This chapter reflects on ‘remembrance’ after the Great War — memorials and services. It notes a new modern world and the advent of radio broadcasting. It considers currents of belief and unbelief. Internationally, Christian-Jewish relations, missionary activity and imperialism, and the issues posed by the new Europe come to the fore. The 1926 General Strike is placed in the context of contemporary Church social and economic thinking, but the political limitations are exposed. In England, both the new Church National Assembly and the Revised Prayer Book controversy of 1927-8 reveal church-state tensions. The partition of Ireland, British-Irish church and political relations, and church-state relations in the new Irish structures (Irish Free State and Northern Ireland), are considered. Disestablishment in Wales and post-war change in Scotland place these developments in context. Evidence of social division and political dislocation partly explains renewed interest in church unity, but no rapid change is evident despite the reunification of the Church of Scotland.
MARK CURTHOYS
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268894
- eISBN:
- 9780191708466
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268894.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book examines the structures inherited by policymakers of mid-Victorian Britain from their Liberal-Tory predecessors a generation earlier granting trade unions a distinctive form of legal ...
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This book examines the structures inherited by policymakers of mid-Victorian Britain from their Liberal-Tory predecessors a generation earlier granting trade unions a distinctive form of legal existence and withdrawing the criminal law from strikes, how those structures functioned, and why they began to fail. The decisions which brought about a replacement are discussed, with the purpose of reinstating the role of government into an established narrative. The politicians and administrators responsible for devising a legal settlement had sooner or later to acknowledge the evidence brought to light by the industrial disputes which punctuated the mid-Victorian period: habits of combination and even of collective bargaining were deep-rooted and could exist independently of the policy of the state. This fact, which fatally undermined policy prescriptions founded upon deductive systems of thought, whether economic or legal, became a commonplace in studies of labour law.Less
This book examines the structures inherited by policymakers of mid-Victorian Britain from their Liberal-Tory predecessors a generation earlier granting trade unions a distinctive form of legal existence and withdrawing the criminal law from strikes, how those structures functioned, and why they began to fail. The decisions which brought about a replacement are discussed, with the purpose of reinstating the role of government into an established narrative. The politicians and administrators responsible for devising a legal settlement had sooner or later to acknowledge the evidence brought to light by the industrial disputes which punctuated the mid-Victorian period: habits of combination and even of collective bargaining were deep-rooted and could exist independently of the policy of the state. This fact, which fatally undermined policy prescriptions founded upon deductive systems of thought, whether economic or legal, became a commonplace in studies of labour law.
MARK CURTHOYS
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268894
- eISBN:
- 9780191708466
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268894.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
For nearly half a century after the repeal of the Combination Acts, the liberty to combine in Britain continued to be restricted, at least in theory. Governments and the courts admitted the impolicy ...
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For nearly half a century after the repeal of the Combination Acts, the liberty to combine in Britain continued to be restricted, at least in theory. Governments and the courts admitted the impolicy of an outright ban on combination. However, they were unwilling to recognize trade unions or to remove the penalties for strikes, or threats of strikes, in all instances. Empirical evidence indicated that the position which favoured legal restriction conceptualized labour market relations in ways that bore little relation to the actual practice of collective bargaining and its outcomes. The legislation of the 1870s brought about the unrestricted legalisation of unions and the decriminalization of labour law, which for practical purposes protected the freedom to strike. The attack against the persistence of ‘class’ legislation was directed against labour and sought to establish the freedom to combine, in its broadest extent, as one of the foundations of the liberal state in Britain.Less
For nearly half a century after the repeal of the Combination Acts, the liberty to combine in Britain continued to be restricted, at least in theory. Governments and the courts admitted the impolicy of an outright ban on combination. However, they were unwilling to recognize trade unions or to remove the penalties for strikes, or threats of strikes, in all instances. Empirical evidence indicated that the position which favoured legal restriction conceptualized labour market relations in ways that bore little relation to the actual practice of collective bargaining and its outcomes. The legislation of the 1870s brought about the unrestricted legalisation of unions and the decriminalization of labour law, which for practical purposes protected the freedom to strike. The attack against the persistence of ‘class’ legislation was directed against labour and sought to establish the freedom to combine, in its broadest extent, as one of the foundations of the liberal state in Britain.
Michael Quinlan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199563944
- eISBN:
- 9780191721274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199563944.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter notes that, beyond 1945, we have no direct evidence at all about the operational use of nuclear weapons and how conflict involving them might develop. This means that we have to rely on ...
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This chapter notes that, beyond 1945, we have no direct evidence at all about the operational use of nuclear weapons and how conflict involving them might develop. This means that we have to rely on concepts not fully validated by experience; and that in turn calls for a degree of intellectual humility in pronouncements about such issues, even though the worldwide effort over sixty years to explore and clarify them, especially in the West, has been impressive. This chapter warns that special care is needed about the handling of metaphors like ‘nuclear threshold’ and ‘escalation’; about terms of art like ‘first use’ and ‘first strike’; about descriptions like ‘strategic’ and ‘tactical’; and about the scope of the concepts of deterrence and dissuasion.Less
This chapter notes that, beyond 1945, we have no direct evidence at all about the operational use of nuclear weapons and how conflict involving them might develop. This means that we have to rely on concepts not fully validated by experience; and that in turn calls for a degree of intellectual humility in pronouncements about such issues, even though the worldwide effort over sixty years to explore and clarify them, especially in the West, has been impressive. This chapter warns that special care is needed about the handling of metaphors like ‘nuclear threshold’ and ‘escalation’; about terms of art like ‘first use’ and ‘first strike’; about descriptions like ‘strategic’ and ‘tactical’; and about the scope of the concepts of deterrence and dissuasion.
Vanessa Barker
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195370027
- eISBN:
- 9780199871315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195370027.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter details the case study of California. It shows how a democratic process based on polarized populism led to a retributive penal regime, with high rates of imprisonment for all kinds of ...
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This chapter details the case study of California. It shows how a democratic process based on polarized populism led to a retributive penal regime, with high rates of imprisonment for all kinds of offenders. It analyzes the success of the crime victims movement, facilitated by the direct democracy measures such as the initiative process, in transforming the moral calculus of punishment. The victims movement helped to bring about a more emotive, passionate, and punitive approach to crime control, making crime victims' pain central to the justification, legitimation, and authority of criminal law and penal sanctioning. The chapter analyzes how a more conservative populist movement challenged state authority, weakened social trust, and demanded a tough law‐and‐order approach to crime and fears over growing ethnic and racial diversity, intensifying social divisions and social exclusion.Less
This chapter details the case study of California. It shows how a democratic process based on polarized populism led to a retributive penal regime, with high rates of imprisonment for all kinds of offenders. It analyzes the success of the crime victims movement, facilitated by the direct democracy measures such as the initiative process, in transforming the moral calculus of punishment. The victims movement helped to bring about a more emotive, passionate, and punitive approach to crime control, making crime victims' pain central to the justification, legitimation, and authority of criminal law and penal sanctioning. The chapter analyzes how a more conservative populist movement challenged state authority, weakened social trust, and demanded a tough law‐and‐order approach to crime and fears over growing ethnic and racial diversity, intensifying social divisions and social exclusion.
Marshall Ganz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195162011
- eISBN:
- 9780199943401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162011.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Between 1963 and 1965, the imminent demise of the bracero program and the gathering momentum of the civil rights movement created new organizing opportunities and new resources for farm worker ...
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Between 1963 and 1965, the imminent demise of the bracero program and the gathering momentum of the civil rights movement created new organizing opportunities and new resources for farm worker organizers. As the farm labor market grew unsettled, the arena of contention shifted from Washington to California and from legislative committees to the fields. Both the AFL-CIO's Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) and the Farm Workers Association (FWA) found they had to respond to these new conditions. In early 1965, both groups were drawn reluctantly into strikes. The difference was that the FWA leaders had the strategic capacity to learn from this experience in ways that the AWOC leadership did not. The FWA leaders actually enhanced their strategic capacity by expanding and diversifying their team. This development set the stage for the radically different ways the two groups would conduct the Delano grape strike beginning in September 1965.Less
Between 1963 and 1965, the imminent demise of the bracero program and the gathering momentum of the civil rights movement created new organizing opportunities and new resources for farm worker organizers. As the farm labor market grew unsettled, the arena of contention shifted from Washington to California and from legislative committees to the fields. Both the AFL-CIO's Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) and the Farm Workers Association (FWA) found they had to respond to these new conditions. In early 1965, both groups were drawn reluctantly into strikes. The difference was that the FWA leaders had the strategic capacity to learn from this experience in ways that the AWOC leadership did not. The FWA leaders actually enhanced their strategic capacity by expanding and diversifying their team. This development set the stage for the radically different ways the two groups would conduct the Delano grape strike beginning in September 1965.
Marshall Ganz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195162011
- eISBN:
- 9780199943401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162011.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
On September 8, 1965, 800 Filipino workers organized by Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) struck ten Delano grape growers, demanding a wage of $1.40 an hour plus 25 cents per box. Two ...
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On September 8, 1965, 800 Filipino workers organized by Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) struck ten Delano grape growers, demanding a wage of $1.40 an hour plus 25 cents per box. Two weeks later, on September 20, at least as many Mexican workers, organized by the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), struck an additional ten growers. By the time the rains brought the table grape harvest to an end in November, thirty-two growers had been struck, over 5,000 workers had indicated support for one of the two unions, and a movement began to emerge, intended to achieve the revolution in agriculture. Leaders of both the NFWA and AWOC made tactical choices about how to deal with a grape strike that neither had planned, but they drew upon different strategic capacities. AWOC organizers, operating within a strategic frame focused on local labor markets, targeted the hardcore of the table grape industry, counting on their members' skill and solidarity to provide sufficient leverage to get wages raised. Initially, the NFWA targeted growers based on where its constituency happened to work. However, a more specific target emerged as the experimental process of probing, pushing, and trying a little of this and a little of that continued.Less
On September 8, 1965, 800 Filipino workers organized by Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) struck ten Delano grape growers, demanding a wage of $1.40 an hour plus 25 cents per box. Two weeks later, on September 20, at least as many Mexican workers, organized by the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), struck an additional ten growers. By the time the rains brought the table grape harvest to an end in November, thirty-two growers had been struck, over 5,000 workers had indicated support for one of the two unions, and a movement began to emerge, intended to achieve the revolution in agriculture. Leaders of both the NFWA and AWOC made tactical choices about how to deal with a grape strike that neither had planned, but they drew upon different strategic capacities. AWOC organizers, operating within a strategic frame focused on local labor markets, targeted the hardcore of the table grape industry, counting on their members' skill and solidarity to provide sufficient leverage to get wages raised. Initially, the NFWA targeted growers based on where its constituency happened to work. However, a more specific target emerged as the experimental process of probing, pushing, and trying a little of this and a little of that continued.
Marshall Ganz
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195162011
- eISBN:
- 9780199943401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162011.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
When the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) affiliated with the AFL-CIO to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), ethnic leaders, radical organizers, and the AFL found ...
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When the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) affiliated with the AFL-CIO to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), ethnic leaders, radical organizers, and the AFL found themselves on the same team for the first time in California history. Employer reaction to the DiGiorgio victory put the alliance to the test immediately. One consequence of the victory was that it inspired wine grape workers at Perelli–Minetti vineyards near Delano to join the strike. The Teamsters intervened by providing strike breakers, claiming to represent them, and signing a contract behind the UFWOC picket lines. Recognizing that they would become a Teamster “hunting dog,” driving one ranch after another into the Teamsters' sights if they didn't fight back, UFWOC launched a boycott of the company's wines despite the fact that the existence of a Teamster contract could inhibit labor support. By May 1967, it became clear to Perelli–Minetti and the other growers that a Teamster contract could not protect them from a UFWOC boycott. The Teamsters realized that without employer cooperation they could offer UFWOC little competition in the fields. All sides went to mediation, UFWOC suspended the boycott, the Teamsters withdrew from the fight, and Perelli–Minetti transferred the contract to UFWOC. How did affiliation with the AFL-CIO, despite the traditional labor movement's history of failure in the fields, enhance the NFWA's strategic capacity? Why couldn't the Teamsters devise a more effective strategy after their “responsible union” approach failed? When the Teamsters tried to learn from UFWOC by mimicking its tactics, why didn't it work? And how could the new union expand the scope and scale of its operations to be able to consolidate its success, fend off new challenges, and launch new initiatives? The answers can be found again, although at a whole new level, in the capacity to generate effective strategy.Less
When the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) affiliated with the AFL-CIO to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), ethnic leaders, radical organizers, and the AFL found themselves on the same team for the first time in California history. Employer reaction to the DiGiorgio victory put the alliance to the test immediately. One consequence of the victory was that it inspired wine grape workers at Perelli–Minetti vineyards near Delano to join the strike. The Teamsters intervened by providing strike breakers, claiming to represent them, and signing a contract behind the UFWOC picket lines. Recognizing that they would become a Teamster “hunting dog,” driving one ranch after another into the Teamsters' sights if they didn't fight back, UFWOC launched a boycott of the company's wines despite the fact that the existence of a Teamster contract could inhibit labor support. By May 1967, it became clear to Perelli–Minetti and the other growers that a Teamster contract could not protect them from a UFWOC boycott. The Teamsters realized that without employer cooperation they could offer UFWOC little competition in the fields. All sides went to mediation, UFWOC suspended the boycott, the Teamsters withdrew from the fight, and Perelli–Minetti transferred the contract to UFWOC. How did affiliation with the AFL-CIO, despite the traditional labor movement's history of failure in the fields, enhance the NFWA's strategic capacity? Why couldn't the Teamsters devise a more effective strategy after their “responsible union” approach failed? When the Teamsters tried to learn from UFWOC by mimicking its tactics, why didn't it work? And how could the new union expand the scope and scale of its operations to be able to consolidate its success, fend off new challenges, and launch new initiatives? The answers can be found again, although at a whole new level, in the capacity to generate effective strategy.
Cynthia J. Van Zandt
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195181241
- eISBN:
- 9780199870776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181241.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter focuses on 1580–1640 as a period of crucial experimentation with intercultural alliances. It argues that Indians and Europeans laid the groundwork for some of the most important ...
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This chapter focuses on 1580–1640 as a period of crucial experimentation with intercultural alliances. It argues that Indians and Europeans laid the groundwork for some of the most important intercultural relationships before 1640. Moreover, by the 1630s, a growing number of mutually beneficial intercultural alliances were in place throughout the Atlantic seaboard. All of these rested on earlier unsuccessful attempts at alliance building. The chapter discusses successful and unsuccessful efforts by Europeans and native peoples to find ways to communicate. In addition, it explores such unsuccessful alliance-building strategies as preemptive strikes, kidnapping, and the use of war dogs.Less
This chapter focuses on 1580–1640 as a period of crucial experimentation with intercultural alliances. It argues that Indians and Europeans laid the groundwork for some of the most important intercultural relationships before 1640. Moreover, by the 1630s, a growing number of mutually beneficial intercultural alliances were in place throughout the Atlantic seaboard. All of these rested on earlier unsuccessful attempts at alliance building. The chapter discusses successful and unsuccessful efforts by Europeans and native peoples to find ways to communicate. In addition, it explores such unsuccessful alliance-building strategies as preemptive strikes, kidnapping, and the use of war dogs.
Hester Barron
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199575046
- eISBN:
- 9780191722196
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199575046.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter analyses the conflicting images of coalfield women that pervade both contemporary and later accounts, whether as anti‐communitarian strike‐breakers, coalfield heroines, or simply ...
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This chapter analyses the conflicting images of coalfield women that pervade both contemporary and later accounts, whether as anti‐communitarian strike‐breakers, coalfield heroines, or simply innocent victims; positions that echoed the ambiguous position that women were accustomed to occupying within the pit villages. During the lockout, the rhetoric of the strikers demanded that every member of the pit village be mobilized behind the trade‐union banner, yet women were also required to continue to fulfil their domestic role within a patriarchal structure. The chapter explores these contradictions and identifies the different strands of female involvement during the strike. It goes beyond stereotypes to establish a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of mining women to such traditionally male institutions as the union and the Labour Party, and their attitudes to strike action itself.Less
This chapter analyses the conflicting images of coalfield women that pervade both contemporary and later accounts, whether as anti‐communitarian strike‐breakers, coalfield heroines, or simply innocent victims; positions that echoed the ambiguous position that women were accustomed to occupying within the pit villages. During the lockout, the rhetoric of the strikers demanded that every member of the pit village be mobilized behind the trade‐union banner, yet women were also required to continue to fulfil their domestic role within a patriarchal structure. The chapter explores these contradictions and identifies the different strands of female involvement during the strike. It goes beyond stereotypes to establish a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of mining women to such traditionally male institutions as the union and the Labour Party, and their attitudes to strike action itself.
Arthur J. Marder
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201502
- eISBN:
- 9780191674907
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201502.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, Military History
The first section of this chapter describes the final phase of the British Pacific Fleet assault on Japan. It discusses the air strikes against an undefended Japan, the difficulties of refuelling at ...
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The first section of this chapter describes the final phase of the British Pacific Fleet assault on Japan. It discusses the air strikes against an undefended Japan, the difficulties of refuelling at sea, Carney's efforts to exclude the British from final operations against the IJN, the private agonies of Rawlings, and the British carriers' performance. The second section describes the Royal Navy submarines against Japan. The last section discusses the events that triggered the Japanese surrender. It examines the Potsdam Declaration, the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the Soviet Declaration of War, Nagasaki, the Emperor's speech, and the last stand of the military.Less
The first section of this chapter describes the final phase of the British Pacific Fleet assault on Japan. It discusses the air strikes against an undefended Japan, the difficulties of refuelling at sea, Carney's efforts to exclude the British from final operations against the IJN, the private agonies of Rawlings, and the British carriers' performance. The second section describes the Royal Navy submarines against Japan. The last section discusses the events that triggered the Japanese surrender. It examines the Potsdam Declaration, the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the Soviet Declaration of War, Nagasaki, the Emperor's speech, and the last stand of the military.
Virgil K.Y. Ho
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199282715
- eISBN:
- 9780191603037
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199282714.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
The Cantonese displayed acceptance of Westerners and their cultures in the late imperial and Republican period, in spite of their reputation for being xenophobic and anti-foreign since the days of ...
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The Cantonese displayed acceptance of Westerners and their cultures in the late imperial and Republican period, in spite of their reputation for being xenophobic and anti-foreign since the days of the Opium War. Many people in Canton adopted an unmistakably pro-West attitude, from popular favourable perceptions of such foreign ‘imperialist enclaves’ as Hong Kong and Shameen to the advocacy for total Westernization by senior academics from a Canton university. Despite its much propagated anti-imperialist stance, the local nationalist government was, in reality, highly conciliatory when dealing with foreign powers.Less
The Cantonese displayed acceptance of Westerners and their cultures in the late imperial and Republican period, in spite of their reputation for being xenophobic and anti-foreign since the days of the Opium War. Many people in Canton adopted an unmistakably pro-West attitude, from popular favourable perceptions of such foreign ‘imperialist enclaves’ as Hong Kong and Shameen to the advocacy for total Westernization by senior academics from a Canton university. Despite its much propagated anti-imperialist stance, the local nationalist government was, in reality, highly conciliatory when dealing with foreign powers.
MATTHEW GRIMLEY
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199270897
- eISBN:
- 9780191709494
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199270897.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter considers how the General Strike (and wider coal strike) was instrumental in the development of William Temple's ideas on national community, and his rejection of pluralism. It examines ...
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This chapter considers how the General Strike (and wider coal strike) was instrumental in the development of William Temple's ideas on national community, and his rejection of pluralism. It examines why Temple became disillusioned with the Labour Party during the General Strike, and what made him abandon the party while his friend R. H. Tawney, also brought up in the Christian socialist and Idealist traditions, remained within the fold. It compares Temple's rhetoric after the strike with that of another national leader, Stanley Baldwin. It argues that Baldwin and Temple shared a fear that democracy would be destroyed by class selfishness. Like Temple, Baldwin sought to avert this by projecting an idea of a cohesive national community based on common culture and civic duty, and underpinned by religion, and like Temple, Baldwin drew on the language of T. H. Green. Finally, the chapter compares Temple's irenic response to the class politics of the late 1920s with the vitriolic reactions of Hensley Henson and Ralph Inge, men who repudiated the language of community and common values.Less
This chapter considers how the General Strike (and wider coal strike) was instrumental in the development of William Temple's ideas on national community, and his rejection of pluralism. It examines why Temple became disillusioned with the Labour Party during the General Strike, and what made him abandon the party while his friend R. H. Tawney, also brought up in the Christian socialist and Idealist traditions, remained within the fold. It compares Temple's rhetoric after the strike with that of another national leader, Stanley Baldwin. It argues that Baldwin and Temple shared a fear that democracy would be destroyed by class selfishness. Like Temple, Baldwin sought to avert this by projecting an idea of a cohesive national community based on common culture and civic duty, and underpinned by religion, and like Temple, Baldwin drew on the language of T. H. Green. Finally, the chapter compares Temple's irenic response to the class politics of the late 1920s with the vitriolic reactions of Hensley Henson and Ralph Inge, men who repudiated the language of community and common values.
MARK CURTHOYS
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268894
- eISBN:
- 9780191708466
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268894.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
After the repeal of the Combination Acts in the mid-1820s, the extent of the freedom to combine, and the wisdom of exercising that freedom, continued to be disputed in Britain. Robert Peel, the home ...
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After the repeal of the Combination Acts in the mid-1820s, the extent of the freedom to combine, and the wisdom of exercising that freedom, continued to be disputed in Britain. Robert Peel, the home secretary responsible for bringing in the measure of 1825, had intended that the scope for legal combination should be kept within very narrow limits. Peel's whig successor, Lord Melbourne, appeared to take a slightly more relaxed view of what the new statute meant. Artisan radicals, on the other hand, claimed the liberty to combine on virtually unrestricted terms, provided only that it was peacefully exercised. This chapter examines the criminal liabilities of strikers after the ban on combinations was lifted. The Wolverhampton trials, which involved the National Association of Union Trades and opened the way to a new phase of judicial creativity towards trade unions and strikes, are analyzed.Less
After the repeal of the Combination Acts in the mid-1820s, the extent of the freedom to combine, and the wisdom of exercising that freedom, continued to be disputed in Britain. Robert Peel, the home secretary responsible for bringing in the measure of 1825, had intended that the scope for legal combination should be kept within very narrow limits. Peel's whig successor, Lord Melbourne, appeared to take a slightly more relaxed view of what the new statute meant. Artisan radicals, on the other hand, claimed the liberty to combine on virtually unrestricted terms, provided only that it was peacefully exercised. This chapter examines the criminal liabilities of strikers after the ban on combinations was lifted. The Wolverhampton trials, which involved the National Association of Union Trades and opened the way to a new phase of judicial creativity towards trade unions and strikes, are analyzed.
