Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”?
If in contemporary parlance “populism” stands for a social or political movement embodying otherwise unorganized and atomized anti-elite sentiment, then trade unionism is not populist. Labor organizations are anti-elitist, but they have a concrete program, a sense of social solidarity, a reasonably...
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Institut des Amériques
2019-10-01
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ideas/6089 |
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| author | Nelson Lichtenstein |
| author_facet | Nelson Lichtenstein |
| author_sort | Nelson Lichtenstein |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | If in contemporary parlance “populism” stands for a social or political movement embodying otherwise unorganized and atomized anti-elite sentiment, then trade unionism is not populist. Labor organizations are anti-elitist, but they have a concrete program, a sense of social solidarity, a reasonably democratic leadership structure, and the capacity to exist once the fever or the election season has passed. Little of this is true of political campaigns and social insurgencies, including those of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, which have played such a prominent role in recent American life. A survey of some recent U.S. strikes, including those of blue-collar whites in heavy industry and white-collar teachers of multicultural hue, demonstrates the validity of this thesis. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1f442d3ca9ce4e69905526843201b749 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1950-5701 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Institut des Amériques |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IdeAs |
| spelling | doaj-art-1f442d3ca9ce4e69905526843201b7492025-08-20T01:54:12ZengInstitut des AmériquesIdeAs1950-57012019-10-011410.4000/ideas.6089Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”?Nelson LichtensteinIf in contemporary parlance “populism” stands for a social or political movement embodying otherwise unorganized and atomized anti-elite sentiment, then trade unionism is not populist. Labor organizations are anti-elitist, but they have a concrete program, a sense of social solidarity, a reasonably democratic leadership structure, and the capacity to exist once the fever or the election season has passed. Little of this is true of political campaigns and social insurgencies, including those of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, which have played such a prominent role in recent American life. A survey of some recent U.S. strikes, including those of blue-collar whites in heavy industry and white-collar teachers of multicultural hue, demonstrates the validity of this thesis.https://journals.openedition.org/ideas/6089TrumppopulismlaborstrikesunionsSanders |
| spellingShingle | Nelson Lichtenstein Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”? IdeAs Trump populism labor strikes unions Sanders |
| title | Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”? |
| title_full | Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”? |
| title_fullStr | Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”? |
| title_short | Are Trade Unions and Their Members “Populist”? |
| title_sort | are trade unions and their members populist |
| topic | Trump populism labor strikes unions Sanders |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ideas/6089 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nelsonlichtenstein aretradeunionsandtheirmemberspopulist |