Why is the American working class different? For   generations,   scholars and activists alike have wrestled with this question, with an   eye to   explaining why workers in the United States are not more like their   radicalized   European counterparts. Approaching the question from a different angle,   Reds or   Rackets? provides a fascinating examination of the American labor   movement from   the inside out, as it were, by analyzing the divergent sources of   radicalism and   conservatism within it. Kimeldorf focuses on the political contrast   between East   and West Coast longshoremen from World War I through the early years of   the Cold   War, when the difference between the two unions was greatest. He   explores the   politics of the West Coast union that developed into a hot bed of   working class   insurgency and contrasts it with the conservative and racket-ridden East   Coast   longshoreman's union. Two unions, based in the same industryas   different as   night and day. The question posed by Kimeldorf is, why? Why "reds" on   one coast   and racketeers on the other?  To answer this question Kimeldorf provides a systematic comparison of   the two   unions, illuminating the political consequences of occupational   recruitment,   industry structure, mobilization strategies, and industrial conflict   during this   period. In doing so, Reds orRackets? sheds new light on the structural   and   historical bases of radical and conservative unionism.  More than a comparative study of two unions, Reds or Rackets? is an   exploration   of the dynamics of trade unionism, sources of membership loyalty, and   neglected   aspects of working class consciousness. It is an incisive and valuable   study   that will appeal to historians, social scientists, and anyone interested   in   understanding the political trajectory of twentieth-century American   labor.

Reds or Rackets?: The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront PDF

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