Suchergebnisse

When workers walked out of the Lawrence, Massachusetts mills on January 12, 1912, calling "short pay, all out," their strike was later called the Bread and Roses strike. Though Congressional Committee investigated food budgets of the strikers and found that the 32 cents the owners had docked their pay (because of legislation reducing hours) was about two weeks of bread, the memory of the strike has been more iconic: "The strikers wanted not only decent pay, but a chance to enjoy the good things of life. They carried signs saying, 'We want bread and roses too!' " Thus, states one of the 252,000 entries that Google reports using the phrase "bread and roses strike." Many sources repeat the inspiring observation. The workers, the legend goes, usually identifying the women, asserted their aspiration for what the poet James Oppenheim called "art and love and beauty" that their "drudging spirits" lacked. Some versions refer to the slogan on picket signs and some to banners. That this is probably legend and not something that actually happened tells us much about the importance of dignity and respect in working class struggles—and the role of women workers in them.

Examines contemporary anti-sweatshop efforts, highlighting the revitalization of the so-called three pillars of decency for vulnerable workers: union organization, alliances with reformers, and pro-worker public policies. The work of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) to improve worker lives in the global apparel industry through the idea of the ethical consumer as manifest in its Designator Supplier Program is described, along with entrepreneurial adventurer Adam Neiman's pursuit of a market niche for ethical providers. Neiman's No Sweat Apparel is contrasted with other ethical providers SWEATX and American Apparel, the latter's anti-union stance being a striking difference from the other two. Three Dante-esque zones for solidarity-oriented consumers that coalesced with the meeting of anti-sweatshop and fair trade advocates are then outlined: "rag trade Hell" or the sweatshop zone; "rag trade Purgatory" or the realm of no-union outfits like American Apparel; and while perhaps not Heaven, the "worker voice" zone where workers have the support of cooperative forms of ownership or a democratic union. After asserting that US consumers do care about the labor conditions under which clothes are made, it is maintained that a market niche exists for ethical producers confronting the political, social, and cultural obstacles to progress for working people. D. Edelman

Current problems & potential improvements to the US political Left are discussed in a response to Richard Flacks's "Thinking about Strategy in a Dark Time" (1996 [see abstract 9710234]). Although Flacks is praised for his recognition of the deleterious effects of globalism on Left politics, it is argued that he fails to recognize the capacity of global capital to evade labor, political, & environmental regulation through capital flight. Therefore, Flacks's advocacy of social wage increases, aggressive unionization, & mass protest techniques is somewhat idealistic. It is suggested that contemporary Left politics must not resort to the strategies of the past, but develop new theories & techniques that recognize & confront the unique challenges of globalism. Under the increasingly restrictive control of conservative government, the Left must emphasize its past, present, & future capacity to improve the lives of ordinary citizens without giving in to the whims of global capital. It is concluded that the revitalization of the Left demands increased cooperation & global mobilization among currently fragmented & issue-driven liberals, progressives, & socialists. T. Sevier

The contradictory & ultimately debilitating aspects of capitalist progress are discussed in a response to Michael Barratt Brown's critique (1996 [see abstract 9709903]) of the author's "Global Capitalism and Labor at the End of History" (1995 [see abstract 9608458]). Brown suggests that capitalism will destroy itself by (1) promoting economic & political crises in the Third World, (2) initiating nationalist conflicts as states weaken, & (3) reducing working conditions to such a level that worker revolution is inevitable. Although these assertions seem contradictory to Marxist political economy assumptions, it is argued that these processes are, in fact, predicted by such a perspective. Rather than advocating a steady transition from capitalism to proletarianization to socialism, Marxism predicts a series of crises produced through imbalances in overproduction/underconsumption & the fluctuations of business cycles. Therefore, the racial, political, & economic conflict highlighted by Brown is not inconsistent with the Marxist approach to capitalism. Further, recent history suggests that these conflicts are not necessarily avoided or reduced in socialist regimes. T. Sevier

Francis Fukuyama's (1990) thesis that the triumph of liberal capitalism over Soviet communism & socialism signaled the end of history is examined. It is suggested that Fukuyama is right in a sense, but that his correctness depends on the most recent development in the relationship of capital to labor. If this relationship does not hold, then labor may again be able to organize against capitalism. Specifically discussed is the potential for the international organization of labor. Although Fukuyama's thesis is based on a Hegelian conception of history, it ironically ignores the Hegelian logic of internal social conflict & change. Despite this, his analysis is taken seriously considering the present absent of any systematic political challenges to capitalism on a global scale. The idea that history may not be at its end, but only in a transition or a pause, is also explored. Labor relations across nations, among trading partners, & cooperation between unions are discussed. It is concluded that the limits of global capital will be reached. 1 Table, 33 References. D. Lou

A review essay on a book by Roger S. Gottlieb, History and Subjectivity: The Transformation of Marxism (Philadelphia: Temple U Press, 1987 [see listing in IRPS No. 64]). Gottlieb argues that traditional Marxism recognized only one form of primacy in social determination -- class -- & that only competitive capitalism, not feudalism or monopoly capitalism, was an economic system with law-like regularities. He also contends that the reformulation of a transformed Marxism must recognize the primacy of gender socialization & the politics of race if an adequate socialist politics is to be established. Gottlieb is lauded for his original attempt at revising Marxism in the wake of the politics of post-New Left feminism. However, his claim that gender relations are as powerful in social determination as class or mode of production is assailed, because such a claim, if true, would deprive Marxism of the very features that make it a unique theoretical system. W. Howard

I: Introduction -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Colonial Cities: Global Pivots of Change -- II: Case Studies -- 3. Central America's Autarkic Colonial Cities (1600–1800) -- 4. Zeelandia, A Dutch Colonial City on Formosa (1624–1662) -- 5. An Insane Administration and an Unsanitary Town: The Dutch East India Company and Batavia (1619–1799) -- 6. Eighteenth-Century Calcutta -- 7. Cape Town (1750–1850): Synthesis in the Dialectic of Continents -- 8. Rio de Janeiro: From Colonial Town to Imperial Capital (1808–1850) -- 9. A Caribbean Creole Capital: Kingston, Jamaica (1692–1938) -- 10. Algiers: Colonial Metropolis (1830–1961) -- 11. Saigon, or the Failure of an Ambition (1858–1945) -- 12. Dakar, Ville impériale (1857–1960) -- 13. Bombay: From Fishing Village to Colonial Port City (1662–1947) -- III: Epilogue -- 14. The Colonial City and the Post-Colonial World -- Notes on the Contributors.