Strike!
The True History of Mass Insurgence from 1877 to the Present

Brecher, Jeremy
Publisher:  Straight Arrow Books, San Francisco, USA
Year First Published:  {12450 Strike! STRIKE The True History of Mass Insurgence from 1877 to the Present Brecher, Jeremy Straight Arrow Books San Francisco USA A history-from-below that brings to light strikes as authentic revolutionary movements against the establishments of state, capital, and trade unionism. 1972 1997 329pp BC12450-Strike.jpg B Book 0-89608-569-4 331.892 Brecher writes: The mains actors in the story are ordinary working people. Most historians, whether radical or conservative, tend to consider ordindary workers a mere "rank and file," controlled and directed by unions and labor leaders. Strikes are presumably the work of these organizations and leaders. I have found, on the contrary, that far from fomenting strikes and rebellions, unions and labor leaders have most often striven to prevent or contain them, while the drive to extend them has generally come from a most undocile "rank and file." Indeed, the most important lessons I learned in preparing this book is the extent to which ordinary working people, acting on their own, have through the decades thought, planned, drawn lessons from their own experiences, organized themselves, and taken action in common. Much of the time these abilities have had no chance for expression; they were suppressed in a society which believed ordindary working people should distrust one another and obey their superiors. But when "looking out for number one" and "getting along by going along" no longer worked, people discovered that together they had powers they never suspected. <br> <br>This is important because the greatest problem we face today is our powerlessness. It underlies every particular problem we face: war, pollution, racism, brutality, injustice, insecurity, and the feeling of being trapped, our lives wasting away, pushed around by forces beyond our control. The source of all these problems is not some cruel decree of fate; every one of them results from the fact that we do not control the life or our own society. The fundamental problem we face -- and the key to solving the more particular problems -- is to transform society so that ordinary people control it. <br> <br> <br>Table of Contents: <br> <br>Preface <br> <br>Part I: The History of American Strikes <br>Prologue <br>Chapter 1: The Great Upheaval <br>Chapter 2: May Day <br>Chapter 3: "The Ragged Edge of Anarchy" <br>Chapter 4: Nineteen Nineteen <br>Chapter 5: Depression Decade <br> "Don't Starve - Fight" <br> Nineteen Thirty Four <br> Sitdown <br>Chapter 6: Postscript the War and Post-war Strike Wave <br> <br>Part II: The Significance of American Strikes <br>Chapter 7: The Significance of Mass Strikes <br> The Mass Strike Process <br> The Course of Mass Strikes <br> The Containment of Mass Strikes <br>Chapter 8: The Current Scene <br>Chapter 9: From Mass Strike to New Society <br>Afterword: A Challenge to Historians CX6590 0 true true false CX6590.htm [0xc000976270 0xc000f73da0 0xc0012a6db0 0xc0012bc990 0xc0015b2990 0xc001bdee40 0xc001c07bf0 0xc000265290 0xc00028cc30 0xc0002f6390 0xc00031c9c0 0xc000113b30 0xc0000f0000 0xc000350ea0 0xc0002bf950 0xc00076d830 0xc0009f2990 0xc0009f32c0 0xc000a756e0 0xc000c0a120 0xc0007f7b60 0xc00081d950 0xc000d5b200 0xc001131350 0xc00120a5d0 0xc000ff1a10 0xc001ed3650 0xc001f0eb10 0xc002417d40 0xc0025151a0 0xc002597470 0xc001e66a80 0xc000403bf0 0xc00087c780 0xc000d137a0 0xc000f292c0 0xc001186930 0xc001296210 0xc0012d7140 0xc0013498c0 0xc00136c060 0xc00136d800 0xc00205f7a0 0xc002647320 0xc0028127b0 0xc002842de0 0xc002a2c750 0xc0001b3b00 0xc0001fbfb0 0xc00028f2c0 0xc00034c1b0 0xc0003b7ef0 0xc0004ad410 0xc000552d20 0xc000590d50] Cx}
Year Published:  1997
Pages:  329pp   ISBN:  0-89608-569-4
  Dewey:  331.892
Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX6590

A history-from-below that brings to light strikes as authentic revolutionary movements against the establishments of state, capital, and trade unionism.

Abstract: 
Brecher writes: The mains actors in the story are ordinary working people. Most historians, whether radical or conservative, tend to consider ordindary workers a mere "rank and file," controlled and directed by unions and labor leaders. Strikes are presumably the work of these organizations and leaders. I have found, on the contrary, that far from fomenting strikes and rebellions, unions and labor leaders have most often striven to prevent or contain them, while the drive to extend them has generally come from a most undocile "rank and file." Indeed, the most important lessons I learned in preparing this book is the extent to which ordinary working people, acting on their own, have through the decades thought, planned, drawn lessons from their own experiences, organized themselves, and taken action in common. Much of the time these abilities have had no chance for expression; they were suppressed in a society which believed ordindary working people should distrust one another and obey their superiors. But when "looking out for number one" and "getting along by going along" no longer worked, people discovered that together they had powers they never suspected.

This is important because the greatest problem we face today is our powerlessness. It underlies every particular problem we face: war, pollution, racism, brutality, injustice, insecurity, and the feeling of being trapped, our lives wasting away, pushed around by forces beyond our control. The source of all these problems is not some cruel decree of fate; every one of them results from the fact that we do not control the life or our own society. The fundamental problem we face -- and the key to solving the more particular problems -- is to transform society so that ordinary people control it.


Table of Contents:

Preface

Part I: The History of American Strikes
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Great Upheaval
Chapter 2: May Day
Chapter 3: "The Ragged Edge of Anarchy"
Chapter 4: Nineteen Nineteen
Chapter 5: Depression Decade
"Don't Starve - Fight"
Nineteen Thirty Four
Sitdown
Chapter 6: Postscript the War and Post-war Strike Wave

Part II: The Significance of American Strikes
Chapter 7: The Significance of Mass Strikes
The Mass Strike Process
The Course of Mass Strikes
The Containment of Mass Strikes
Chapter 8: The Current Scene
Chapter 9: From Mass Strike to New Society
Afterword: A Challenge to Historians

Subject Headings

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