DOCSLIB.ORG

Class Struggles and Worker Co-Operatives in English

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

CLASS STRUGGLES AND WORKER CO-OPERATIVES IN ENGLISH CANADA: 1844-1914 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology University of Regina by Dawn Annette Johnson Regina, Saskatchewan April, 2010 Copyright 2010: D. Annette Johnson Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88512-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88512-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Dawn Annette Johnson, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology, has presented a thesis titled, Class Struggles and Worker Co-Operatives in English Canada: 1844~1914, in an oral examination held on December 10, 2009. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: Dr. Dimitrios Diamantopoulos, School of Journalism Supervisor: Dr. John F. Conway, Department of Sociology and Social Studies Committee Member: Dr. JoAnn Jaffe, Department of Sociology and Social Studies Committee Member: Dr. Robert M. Stirling, Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Studies Chair of Defense: Dr. Darlene Juschka, Department of Women's and Gender Studies ABSTRACT This thesis traces the root causes of the failure of the worker co-operative movement in English Canada to socialise production by examining class relations at the turn of the twentieth century. It attempts to establish why it is that this type of production failed to become a successful, wide-spread and viable alternative to capitalist relations of production. It is an exercise in historical materialism and thus seeks to unearth the mechanisms at work that not only formed this type of co-operation in the first instance, but also stunted its implementation, growth and therefore any of its revolutionary potential. As such, this thesis attempts to reinstate long-silenced voices into the discourse surrounding the worker co­ operative movement itself through re-visiting the rise and the fall of the Knights of Labour in North America. The past is dredged up in order to learn the lessons of these early co-operators so that the same mistakes are not repeated. This is critical because contemporary national and international industrial relations of production are on the cusp of important change as witnessed by the recent collaborative agreement between the United Steelworkers of America (USW) and the MONDRAGON industrial co-operative organisation of Spain1. The lessons of the past documented in this thesis are, therefore, important for two reasons. First of all, they teach us what does not work. Secondly, by teaching what does not work, they point the way to what will. Co-operatives tend to thrive when there is structural upheaval, economic crises, and when capitalism spreads. This is what happened in the past and it is 1 See Appendix D for full text. what is happening now. Globally, co-operatives now employ more workers than all multi-national corporations combined (CCA, 2009) and the annual aggregate turnover of the top 300 mutuals and co-operative organisations is equal Canada's national output. The resources and the sheer numbers for a potential revolution of the social relations of production do exist. And yet the workers remain unorganised and worker co-operatives remain the smallest contributors to this global output. The historical reasons for this contemporary situation are explored throughout this thesis by i) examining the initial rise of co-operation in Britain during the Industrial Revolution, ii) tracing how the British and European movements influenced the pioneers of the Canadian co-operative movement, and iii) exploring what the lessons of the past mean for the future in the final chapter. The conclusion reached in this thesis is that if the past teaches us anything, it is that only by politicising and centralising alternatives to capitalist relations of production can the movement's potential for reformation be realised. Worker co-operatives need to be politicised. Local, grassroots movements need to be connected to a universal project of emancipation that can act as the glue that holds the movement together. Because local spaces "...are subject to the power of capital over the co-ordination of universal fragmented space and the march of capitalism's global historical time lies outside the purview of any particular one of them" (Harvey, 1990: 239), collective, co-operative action by local communities is the only strategy that will work. A co-ordinated, international effort must be grow out of this that is capable of supporting this undertaking in order to try to match the powers of global capitalism. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work involved in writing this thesis did not simply fall on my shoulders. Many others have played a part and made its completion possible. First and foremost, it was the tireless efforts of the old guards at the little 'red' school on the Prairies that inspired me and helped me to understand that change is always possible. This includes, amongst others, Dr. Murray Knuttila who taught my first sociology class and inspired me by his passion, Dr. Bob Stirling who took me under his wing many years ago and taught me patience and persistence, Dr. John Conway who pushed me to greater heights, even when I didn't want to go there, and Dr. JoAnn Jaffe who believed in me at moments I did not believe in myself. The countless discussions and debates with friends and colleagues were also invaluable. Thank you to Pam for being the voice on the 'other* side. Thank you to the teachers at Grand Coulee elementary school who laid the foundations that taught me to love to learn. Special thanks must be given to Dr. Rozzet Jurdi for all the support, understanding and great advice. I would also like to acknowledge the funding that made this work possible. Thank you to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research for the scholarships that carried me through and to the Douglas-CokJwell Foundation for your much appreciated financial support. The unwavering support of my husband Matt and my family saw me through this journey. iii DEDICATION For our son, Lukas. May you never forget that change is possible. The wellsprings of human freedom lie not only where Marx saw them, in the aspirations of classes about to take power, but perhaps even more in the dying wails of a class over whom the wave of progress is about to roll [Barrington Moore, Jr., quoted in Laxer (1991: 228)]. POST-DEFENSE ACKOWLDGEMENTS I want to extend a very special thank you to Mitdi Diamantopoulos who served as the external examiner at the defence. His knowledge and insights into worker co­ operation have been invaluable on this journey las has his willingness to share his own intellectual works. I wish to also extend my thanks to Dr. Darlene Juschka who served as Chair. Lastly, I would like to thank my fellow students (both past and present) who were there to lend their support to me in this process. V TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEGEMENTS DEDICATION POST DEFENSE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF APPENDICES PREFACE: A NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS 2.1 Filling the Void 2.2 What is a Worker Co-operative? 2.3 Social Class 2.4 Class in the Making 2.5 The Limits of Capitalism 2.6 Hegemony and the Role of the State 2.7 The Worker Co-operative Difference? CHAPTER 3 EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 3.1 Setting the Scene: England, 1844 3.2 Rochdale as a Reaction to Utopian Socialism 3.3 Rochdale Practices 3.4 The Persistence of Ideals 3.5 National Co-ordination in Britain: The Movement
Recommended publications
  • A Century of Struggle

    A Century of Struggle

    A Century of Struggle To mark the 100th anniversary of the formation of the American Federation of Labor, the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution invited a group of scholars and practitioners "to examine the work, technology, and culture of industrial America . " The conference was produced in cooperation with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations . The excerpts on the following pages are drawn from papers and comments at that conference, in the Museum's Carmichael Auditorium, November IS and 16, 1986. Mary Kay Rieg, Olivia G. Amiss, and Marsha Domzalski of the Monthly Labor Review provided editorial assistance. Trade unions mirror society in conflict between collectivism and individualism A duality common to many institutions runs through the American labor movement and has marked its shifting fortunes from the post-Civil War period to the present ALICE KESSLER-HARRIS ideology of American trade unions as they developed in Two competing ideas run through the labor movement, as and post-Civil War period. It also tells us something of their they have run through the American past. The first is the the The conglomeration of unions that formed the Na- notion of community-the sense that liberty is nurtured in impact . Union and the 15,000 assemblies of the an informal political environment where the voluntary and tional Labor of Labor responded to the onslaught of industrial- collective enterprise of people with common interests con- Knights the Civil War by searching for ways to reestablish tributes to the solution of problems . Best characterized by ism after of interest that was threatened by a new and the town meeting, collective solutions are echoed in the the community organization of work.
  • POLITICAL ECONOMY for SOCIALISM Also by Makoto Itoh

    POLITICAL ECONOMY for SOCIALISM Also by Makoto Itoh

    POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR SOCIALISM Also by Makoto Itoh TilE BASIC TIIEORY OF CAPITALISM TilE VALUE CONTROVERSY (co-author with I. Steedman and others) TilE WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS AND JAPANESE CAPITALISM VALUE AND CRISIS Political Economy for Socialism Makoto ltoh Professor of Economics University of Tokyo M St. Martin's Press © Makoto ltoh 1995 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published in Great Britain 1995 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-333-55338-1 ISBN 978-1-349-24018-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-24018-0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 First published in the United States of America 1995 by Scholarly and Reference Division, ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 175 Fifth A venue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-12564-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ltoh, Makoto, 1936-- Political economy for socialism I Makoto Itoh.
  • Labor History Subject Catalog

    Labor History Subject Catalog

    Labor History Catalog of Microform (Research Collections, Serials, and Dissertations) www.proquest.com/en-US/catalogs/collections/rc-search.shtml [email protected] 800.521.0600 ext. 2793 or 734.761.4700 ext. 2793 USC009-03 updated May 2010 Table of Contents About This Catalog ............................................................................................... 2 The Advantages of Microform ........................................................................... 3 Research Collections............................................................................................. 4 African Labor History .......................................................................................................................................5 Asian Labor History ..........................................................................................................................................6 British Labor History ........................................................................................................................................8 Canadian Labor History ................................................................................................................................. 20 Caribbean Labor History ................................................................................................................................ 22 French Labor History ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Globalization
  • The Gilded Age

    The Gilded Age

    The Gilded Age The Organization of Labor Labor Unions • Although labor unions began forming in the early 1800s, they did not gain any significant member- ship base or bargaining power until the 1860s and 1870s. The harsh, even hazardous, working conditions arising from industrialization drove laborers to organize into unions. ManagementManagement vs. vs. Labor Labor “Tools” of “Tools” of Management Labor “scabs” boycotts P. R. campaign sympathy demonstrations Pinkertons informational lockout picketing blacklisting closed shops yellow-dog contracts organized court injunctions strikes open shop “wildcat” strikes Knights of Labor • One of the first major unions was the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869. • Under the leadership of Terrence G. Powderly, the Knights demanded sweeping reforms: • Equal pay for women • An end to child labor • A progressive income tax • The union claimed a substantial membership, including women, blacks, and immigrants. GoalsGoals of of the the Knights Knights of of ùù EightEight--hourhour workday.workday. LaborLabor ùù WorkersWorkers’’ cooperatives.cooperatives. ùù WorkerWorker--ownedowned factories.factories. ùù AbolitionAbolition ofof childchild andand prisonprison labor.labor. ùù IncreasedIncreased circulationcirculation ofof greenbacks.greenbacks. ùù EqualEqual paypay forfor menmen andand women.women. ùù SafetySafety codescodes inin thethe workplace.workplace. ùù ProhibitionProhibition ofof contractcontract foreignforeign labor.labor. ùù AbolitionAbolition ofof thethe NationalNational Bank.Bank. Railroad Strike • In 1885, the Knights of Labor staged a successful strike against railroad “robber baron” Jay Gould. The strike so severely crippled Gould’s operation that he had no choice but to fold. • On the strength of this victory, the Knights’ membership and political power grew. The Knights successfully supported a number of politicians for election and forced laws favorable to workers through Congress.
  • Resolving Polanyi's Paradox

    Resolving Polanyi's Paradox

    11 afterword: resolving polanyi’s paradox Michael Burawoy Over the last 30 years Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation, first published in 1944, has become a canonical text in several inter-related social sciences – sociology, geography, anthropology, international political economy, as well as making in-roads into political science and economics. Undoubtedly, part of its appeal lies in the resonance of his theories with our times which have been marked by the deregulation of markets and their extension into new realms. Polanyi argued that the rise of market fundamentalism had devastating conse- quences for society, leading to protective countermovements that could be of a progressive or reactionary character. From the perspective of today’s market fun- damentalism, Polanyi’s countermovement effectively frames, on the one hand, the democratic social movements of 2011, including the Arab Spring, Occupy, and Indignados, and, on the other hand, the more recent advance of illiberal democracies, often veering toward dictatorships, in Turkey, Poland, Hungary, the Philippines, Brazil, Italy, Israel and Egypt. It also frames an understanding of such popular movements behind Brexit, Trumpism, the Five Star Movement, and the Yellow Vests as a reaction to an expanding market that commodifies, denigrates and excludes. It is the obvious appeal of Polanyi’s argument that now leads commentators to evaluate his writings critically and with renewed inten- sity, searching for answers to crises of a global scale. critiques of polanyi The most common criticism of The Great Transformation is Polanyi’s failure to anticipate another round of market fundamentalism beginning in the 1970s that has continued virtually unabated for nearly 50 years.
  • The Core of Economics

    The Core of Economics

    since 1894 Restoring a timeless idea... Issue 1247 Summer 2019 The Core of Economics No 1229 Winter 2010/11 1 “ Free trade consists simply in letting peo- ple buy and sell as they want to buy and sell. It is protection that requires force, for it consists in preventing people from doing what they want to do... WWW.HENRYGEORGEFOUNDATION.ORG message from the honorary president No 1247 Summer 2019 At the beginning of his book The Science of Political Economy Henry PO Box 6408, London, W1A 3GY George suggests that whilst the world as it is presented to our perception +44 (0) 800 048 8537 may at bottom be one we are compelled in thought to distinguish, in their [email protected] actions and reactions, three independent and separable elements: Editor 1. That which feels, perceives, thinks, wills; which to distinguish we call Joseph Milne mind or soul or spirit. 2. That which has mass or weight or extension or form; which to Managing Editor distinguish we call matter. Jesper Raundall Christensen 3. That which acting on matter produces movement; which to distinguish, we call motion or force. Graphics and Production Jesper Raundall Christensen … of these from our standpoint, that which feels, perceives thinks, wills comes first in order of priority, for it is this which is first in our own Publisher Henry George Foundation consciousness, and it is only through this that we have consciousness of any other existence. In this, as our consciousness testifies, is the initiative of To receive Land&Liberty or support the work of the all our own motions and movements, so far as consciousness and memory Henry George Foundation contact us at the address shed light; and in all cases in which we trace the genesis of anything to its above.
  • Padding Satirizes Owenism Mentor L

    Padding Satirizes Owenism Mentor L

    Padding Satirizes Owenism Mentor L. Williams* One Sunday in August, 1826, Robert Owen stood before the assembled Owenites of New Harmony, Indiana, and read them passages from a book that had just come into his hands, The Merry Tales of the Three Wise Men of G0tham.l James Kirke Paulding, satirist extraordinary, de- fender and protector of the American name and faith, had scored another contemporary success. The Merry Tales, like its predecessors, The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan (1812), The United States and England (1822), John Bull in America (1825), was another of Pauld- ing’s satires in the “paper war” between Great Britain and the United States. The anti-British virus that had infected so many American writers produced in Paulding an inter- mittent fever the recurrences of which required little or no provocation. Paulding’s animus was directed at the British travelers in the books cited above; it was leveled at Scott in The Lay of the Scottish Fiddle (1813) and Koningsmarke (1823). In The Merry Tales it was Owenism, English legal procedure, and phrenology that incurred Paulding’s wrath.2 Though the story of Owen’s experimental community has been told and ret~ld,~often with a needless amount of * Dr. Mentor L. Williams is an associate professor of English at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois. 1George B. Lockwood, The New Hamton Movement (New York, 1905), 150.. Marguerite Young, Angel in the Jorest (New York, 1946), 236-237, gves a very distorted version of the incident. 2The Merry Tales of the Three Wise Men o[ Gotham (New Yprk, 1826) has not received proper attention from American literary historians and critics.
  • Viewer Who May Quote Passages in a Review

    Viewer Who May Quote Passages in a Review

    FRAGMENTS IN THE RUINS Coats_9781786608338.indb 1 23-07-2018 17:51:53 About Policy Network Policy Network is the international ideas exchange for progressives. More than just a thinktank, its network spans national borders across Europe and the wider world with the aim of promoting the best progressive thinking on the major social and economic challenges of the 21st century. What makes Policy Network unique is our ability to connect policymakers and policy implementers. We combine rigorous analysis of the biggest questions facing modern societies with creative thinking on how to turn those fresh solutions into dynamic political narratives that can deliver electoral success for progressive parties. A platform for research and ideas • Promoting expert ideas and political analysis on the key economic, social and political challenges of our age. • Disseminating research excellence and relevant knowledge to a wider public audience through interactive policy networks, including interdisciplinary and scholarly collaboration. • Engaging and informing the public debate about the future of European and global progressive politics. • Building international policy communities comprising individuals and affiliate institutions. • Providing meeting platforms where the politically active, and potential leaders of the future, can engage with each other across national borders, with the best thinkers who are sympathetic to their broad aims. • Engaging in external collaboration with partners including higher education institutions, the private sector, thinktanks, charities, community organisations, and trade unions • Delivering an innovative events programme combining in-house seminars with large- scale public conferences designed to influence and contribute to key public debates. www.policynetwork.org@policynetwork Coats_9781786608338.indb 2 23-07-2018 17:51:53 FRAGMENTS IN THE RUINS The Renewal of Social Democracy David Coats London • New York Coats_9781786608338.indb 3 23-07-2018 17:51:53 Published by Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd.
  • Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT

    Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT

    Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION CASE NO.: CHC-2016-3731-HCM ENV-2016-3732-CE HEARING DATE: October 20, 2016 Location: 6111 North Monterey Road; 6112 North TIME: 10:00 AM Toltec Way; 6117 North Monterey Road PLACE : City Hall, Room 1010 Council District: 14 200 N. Spring Street Community Plan Area: Northeast Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90012 Area Planning Commission: East Los Angeles Neighborhood Council: Arroyo Seco Legal Description: Oak Hill Park Tract, Block 2, Lots 28-29 PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the LEE RESIDENCE REQUEST: Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument OWNER: CMB Developers, Inc. Attn: Ilanit Maghen 1080 Everett Place Los Angeles, CA 90026-4413 APPLICANT: Highland Park Heritage Trust P.O. Box 50894 Highland Park, CA 90004 PREPARERS: Charles J. Fisher and Jonathan Silberman Highland Park Heritage Trust 140 S. Avenue 57 Highland Park, CA 90042 RECOMMENDATION That the Cultural Heritage Commission: 1. Take the property under consideration as a Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.10 because the application and accompanying photo documentation suggest the submittal warrants further investigation. 2. Adopt the report findings. VINCENT P. BERTONI, AICP Director of PlanningN1907 [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Ken Bernstein, AICP, Manager Lambert M. Giessinger, Preservation Architect Office of Historic Resources Office of Historic Resources [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Melissa Jones, Planning Assistant Office of Historic Resources Attachments: Historic-Cultural Monument Application CHC-2016-3731-HCM 6111 North Monterey Road; 6112 North Toltec Way; 6117 North Monterey Road Page 2 of 2 SUMMARY The 1938 Lee Residence is a two-story, East Asian Eclectic single-family dwelling with a detached two car garage located at 6111 North Monterey Road between Hardison Way and South Avenue 60 in the Hermon Community.
  • 400457827009.Pdf

    400457827009.Pdf

    Nova Economia ISSN: 0103-6351 ISSN: 1980-5381 Nova Economia Kulnig Cinelli, Carlos Leonardo; Arthmar, Rogério The debating tradition in Britain and the new political economy: William Thompson and John Stuart Mill at the London Co-operative Society in 1825 Nova Economia, vol. 28, no. 2, May-August, 2018, pp. 609-636 Nova Economia DOI: 10.1590/0103-6351/3583 Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=400457827009 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System Redalyc More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Project academic non-profit, developed under the open access initiative DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0103-6351/3583 The debating tradition in Britain and the new political economy: William Thompson and John Stuart Mill at the London Co-operative Society in 1825 A tradição de debates na Grã-Bretanha e a nova economia política: William Thompson e John Stuart Mill na Sociedade Cooperativa de Londres em 1825 Carlos Leonardo Kulnig Cinelli (1) Rogério Arthmar (2) (1) Universidade de Brasília (2) Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo Abstract Resumo This paper reviews the debate between Wil- O artigo analisa o debate entre William Thomp- liam Thompson and John Stuart Mill that son e John Stuart Mill ocorrido na Sociedade happened at the London Co-operative Soci- Cooperativa de Londres em 1825 a respeito das ety in 1825 over the advantages of coopera- vantagens do cooperativismo face ao sistema com- tion as against free competition. The general petitivo.
  • Knowledge Is Power: the Knights of Labor in South Dakota

    Knowledge Is Power: the Knights of Labor in South Dakota

    Copyright © 1993 by the South Dakota State Historical Society. All Rights Reserved. Knowledge Is Power: The Knights of Labor in South Dakota ERLING N. SANNES South Dakota's first statewide labor organization was the Knights of Labor. Although active for only a few years, it enjoyed remarkable success. Its members helped establish the Australian ballot, child labor legislation, the state Department of Labor, and the Office of Mine Inspector. Yet, the paucity of research on the early organiza- tion of South Dakota labor has made it difficult to recognize these contributions.' Doane Robinson, in his monumental history of South Dakota, made only an indirect reference to the Knights of Labor. Herbert S. Schell mentioned that the organization had locals throughout the state but did not indicate where they were located, A shorter version of this essay was read at the Northern Creat Plains History Con- ference in Mankato, Minn., on 3 Oct. 1991. 1. My research on the Knights of Labor began as a part oí a broader study of organ- ized labor in South Dakota. I had hoped to examine ideological connections and continuity, if any, between organized workers during the later part of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, but I found it impossible to do so because the primary research had not yet been done. In his ground-breaking study of the knights at the national level, Jonathan Garlock found that many of the stan- dard works on the principal labor and agrarian organizations could not be accepted as a base for a collective history oí labor because little attention had been given to the role of such organizations at the grass-roots level.
  • From Slavery to the Cooperative Commonwealth Labor and Republican Liberty in the Nineteenth Century

    From Slavery to the Cooperative Commonwealth Labor and Republican Liberty in the Nineteenth Century

    From Slavery to the Cooperative Commonwealth Labor and Republican Liberty in the Nineteenth Century ALEX GOUREVITCH Brown University 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York , NY 10013-2473, USA Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107663657 © Alex Gourevitch 2015 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2015 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Gourevitch, Alexander. From slavery to the cooperative commonwealth: Labor and republican liberty in the nineteenth century / Alex Gourevitch, Brown University. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-107-03317-7 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-107-66365-7 (paperback) 1. Labor movement – United States – History – 19th century. 2. Wages – United States – History – 19th century. 3. Cooperation – United States – History – 19th century. 4. Republicanism – United States – History – 19th century. I. Title. HD 8072. G 764 2015 331.880973′09034–dc23 2014026552 ISBN 978-1-107-03317-7 Hardback ISBN 978-1-107-66365-7 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URL s for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.