Nelson Lichtenstein

Their Generation Nelson Lichtenstein

Here is another Julian Zelizer interview with a member of what he calls "Their Generation:" ie old historians from the 1960s and 1970s. In this case it is me, Nelson Lichtenstein. open.substack.com/pub/julianze...

Organized Labor at a Crossroads How can unions adapt to a new landscape of work?

Here's a provocative book on how to organize a union: www.thenation.com/article/soci...

What shaped Mike Davis’s fierce critique of American capitalism? In a powerful tribute, Nelson Lichtenstein @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social maps Davis’s journey from New Left Review to City of Quartz and beyond.

Read in LABOR: doi.org/10.1215/1547...

Mike Davis: The Road to City of Quartz and Beyond Abstract. This essay explores the historiographic ideas and political experiences that influenced the work of Mike Davis, the prolific Marxist historian who died in 2022. His first two books, Prisoner...

If you are interested in the fascinating and provocative career of Mike Davis you might find this retrospective on his work of interest. read.dukeupress.edu/labor/articl...

Leftists are now using the word "siblings" rather than "brothers and sisters" when addressing fellow unionists, activists, and movement people. I can see the gender logic, but siblings has little punch. How about "comrades?" That links speaker, writer, and audience in a common, fighting endeavor.

The Indispensability of the Labor Organizer Why the work of the 2025 Labor Organizers of the Year is so critical.

inthesetimes.com/article/why-...

Why did corporatism take root in postwar Germany but not in the U.S.? In the first article of this special issue, @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social explores how both countries shared surprising similarities in the 1940s–50s—before diverging sharply in labor relations models. doi.org/10.1215/1547...

Here's an article I just published in LABOR: Studies in Working-Class History. A bit relevant to contemporary labor and left discussions over "sectoral bargaining." read.dukeupress.edu/labor/articl...

70 Years On: How We’ve Thought About the Unions | The New Press By Nelson Lichtenstein, co-author of Labor’s Partisans: Essential Writings on the Union Movement from the 1950s to Today Labor’s Partisans is a retrospective on the evolution of the labor movement, as...

Samir Sonti and I have just edited a collection of essays on the labor movement derived from Dissent Magazine's 70 year archive. Here are some thoughts on how we can use that history today. thenewpress.com/blog/author-...

Thanks

Thanks!

I am not one to find hopeful straws in the wind, but the Bernie/AOC set of rallies do seem to portend a tide of popular opposition to Trumpism. The Denver rally was his largest, ever. Notable has been his anti-oligarchy theme, which can be mobilized against a faction inside the Democratic Party.

Unionizing the “Cultural Apparatus” Don’t mourn the professional-managerial class — organize it.

My take on the how and why of a new union movement, even in these times. jacobin.com/2025/02/unio...

It’s Time for a United Front to Take on Billionaire Rule The super rich are in command, as Donald Trump and Elon Musk run a rampage on the working class. To stop them, the labor movement needs to lead.

Trump is showing us who's on our side. Pretty much everyone.

“They have built our coalition for us by virtue of the wide range of attacks by race, class, gender, legal status and more."

From @lfelizleon.bsky.social @inthesetimesmag.bsky.social

inthesetimes.com/article/labo...

The Left Needs Its “Schools of Enlightenment and Revolution” Throughout the entire history of left-wing and working-class organizing in the United States, the participation in and building of institutions of political education has been key.

Can we reconstruct a socialist educational experience? History may offer some guidance jacobin.com/2025/02/soci...

Back to the ‘90s | Henry Tonks On Ganz’s “When the Clock Broke” and Lichtenstein and Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure”

“What’s past is prologue.” – Roger Stone

To understand 2025, go back to the #Nineties. Read my review of @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social and Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure” to learn why. #USPolitics www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...

Here is the latest Labor and Working-Class History Newsletter. It is a post-mortem on the November elections. Many good interventions, including one that I put together on why the Biden Industrial policy initiatives had so little political impact. mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#in...

News reports say that tennis champion Novak Djokovic supports student protesters in his native Serbia. For years he has been or allowed himself to be identified with the nationalist and undemocratic ruling regime. Now I might cheer for him at the next match.

the venerable @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social identified this anti competitive behavior in his study of Walmart so many years ago.. glad to see the FTC is finally taking action

1977

1960?

Why was this post not filled 50 years ago? And should not all NR reporters be “class” reporters?

Either Be a Determined Opposition or Be a Loser Democrats may be in the minority, but they are not yet an opposition. What’s the difference?

This is excellent! Either Be a Determined Opposition or Be a Loser portside.org/2024-12-20/e...

War Podcast Episode · Haymarket Originals: Fragile Juggernaut · S1 E17 · 1h 57m

Our Fragile Juggernaut episode on labor in World War II is here, with the legendary @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social. What happens when you get full employment, price controls, mass migration to cities, and the integration of labor into the total war mobilization? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Labor’s Partisans: Essential Writings on the Union Movement from the 1950s to Today by Seventy years of reporting capture the ebb and flow of American labor power in this robust collection of articles from Dissent, ...

Our collection will not be officially out until February 2025 but Publisher's Weekly seems to like it: www.publishersweekly.com/9781620978818

History As It Happens: The "New Economy" Midway through his eighth year in office, President Bill Clinton kicked off a White House conference on the "new economy." The internet age was underway, unemployment was low, inflation was dormant, t...

Martin di Caro is an excellent interviewer and he rounds out the questions and comments with many fascinating sound bites from the people and events being discussed. Sort of an audio take on my history of Clinton's economic policy. historyasithappens.radio.washingtontimes.com/the-new-econ...

Escape Artists was indeed useful in writing my economic history of the Clinton Administration and its legacy

My interview with
@nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social on Bill Clinton’s economic legacy is edited and ready to go!

How much credit does Clinton deserve for the 90’s economy, and how do decisions on free trade, deregulation, and welfare reform hold up today?

Publication date is 12.16

Back to the ‘90s | Henry Tonks On Ganz’s “When the Clock Broke” and Lichtenstein and Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure”

Nostalgic for the Nineties? I reconsidered America’s “holiday from history” for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social, reviewing @lioneltrolling.bsky.social’s “When the Clock Broke” and @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social & Judith Stein’s “A Fabulous Failure.” www.phenomenalworld.org/reviews/back...