×

22
23

WeeklyThreadFavorite Books about the Labor Movement/Workers' Rights: March 2022 (self.books)

submitted by AutoModerator

Welcome readers,

Today is Cesar Chavez Day which celebrates the life of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez! To celebrate, we're discussing our favorite books about the labor movement and workers' rights.

If you'd like to read our previous weekly discussions of fiction and nonfiction please visit the suggested reading section of our wiki.

Thank you and enjoy!

all 16 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]bUrNtKoOlAiD 8 points9 points  (2 children)

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

[–]bear61317 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Very much agreed, and will add In Dubious Battle also by Steinbeck, which has the additional material about the labor meetings and planning protests etc :)

[–]bUrNtKoOlAiD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't read that 1 yet! I'll add it to the list.

[–]TheTalentedMrTorres 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn

[–]ropbop1966 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There is Power in a Union: the Epic Story of Labor in America by Philip Dray.

The Age of Acquiescence: the Rise and Fall of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power by Steve Fraser.

[–]Ealinguser 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Robert Tressell: the Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists is probably the classic novel but you will need to allow for fairly basic humour at times eg the character names.

[–]i-should-be-reading 1 point2 points  (0 children)

{{a power governments cannot suppress}} by Howard Zinn

[–]vaguelymysterious 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Teamster Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs is basically a manual for militant union organizing

[–]ahkna 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Drawn to Change : Graphic Histories of Working-Class Struggle by Graphic History Collective, with Paul Buhle

[–]MedievalHero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - ah yes, when everything in the book from the treatment of immigrants and their terrible conditions to the terrible labour conditions and to the terrible meat packing conditions scares the crap out of you, you know the book has been written well.

Upton Sinclair: You want the American Dream? I'll fucking show you the American Dream...

Great, now I'm horrified...

[–]insearchofbeer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Germinal, by Emile Zola. One of my favorites.

[–]SuperOliverTwist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Iron Heel by Jack London

It's basically a story about the Oligarchy vs the people:

In it, Avis tells of how the United States was slowly overcome by a group of oligarchs, the Iron Heel, who use their monopoly power to systematically bankrupt American small businesses and farmers in order to cement their control over the capitalist system. Eventually, the U.S. Army is brought under the control of the oligarchs, who entrench a brutal system of repression against the working class.

Here's the free ebook: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jack-london/the-iron-heel

[–]Silumet1 0 points1 point  (1 child)

A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis

[–]RaineythereaderPilgrim at Tinker Creek 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Came here to say this.

[–]bigguy_50 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

[–]Musicmom1164 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, ya'll are all pretty high-brow for me, lol, with your Upton Sinclairs and Steinbecks, though I do love Steinbeck. However, I stupidly assumed novels, and recent ones, at that. One I've loved recently is The Cold Millions by Jess Walter. Slinking away now.