Barons of Labor
The San Francisco Building Trades and Union Power in the Progressive Era
Unionism's rise and fall in a California city
Paper – $24
978-0-252-06075-5
eBook – $19.95
978-0-252-05461-7
Publication Date
Paperback: 01/01/1989
About the Book
From the depression of the 1890s through World War I, construction tradesman held an important place in San Francisco's economic, political, and social life. Michael Kazin's award-winning study delves into how the city’s Building Trades Council (BTC) created, accumulated, used, and lost their power. He traces the rise of the BTC into a force that helped govern San Francisco, controlled its potential progress, and articulated an ideology that made sense of the changes sweeping the West and the country. Believing themselves the equals of officeholders and corporate managers, these working and retired craftsmen pursued and protected their own power while challenging conservatives and urban elites for the right to govern. What emerges is a long-overdue look at building trades as a force in labor history within the dramatic story of how the city's 25,000 building workers exercised power on the job site and within the halls of government, until the forces of reaction all but destroyed the BTC.About the Author
Michael Kazin is a professor in the Department of History at Georgetown University and the coeditor of Dissent. His books include War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918 and American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation.Reviews
"Kazin's book is about far more than the construction industry: it also illuminates the social and political history of San Francisco. . . . Gracefully written and adorned with evocative portraits of local political and labor leaders, Barons of Labor is absorbing reading as well as a fine piece of history."--The Nation"A bold and pioneering work that revises our understanding of skilled craftsmen and the politics of class in the Progressive Era."--Journal of American History
"Barons of Labor is superb work, carefully researched and written with clarity, vitality, and wit, a pleasure as well as an education to read."--Labor History
Awards
Winner of the Herbert G. Gutman AwardRelated Titles
