Coalitions across the Class Divide: Lessons from the Labor, Peace, and Environmental Movements - Softcover

Rose, Fred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080148636X ISBN 13: 9780801486364

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1999

Synopsis

Too often struggles for jobs and economic justice have been divided from social goals such as peace or protecting the environment. How do we create an economy where both the process and product of work serve life-sustaining goals? Coalitions across the Class Divide argues that the seeds of this new society are being sown by those who learn to bridge working and middle-class movements and cultures. A new generation of activists is seizing a historic opportunity to organize coalitions across the labor, peace, environmental, and other movements that have previously worked in isolation or at odds.

Fred Rose brings the challenges and potential of coalition organizing to life through an in-depth look at cases of conflict and cooperation. From the timber wars in the Pacific Northwest to military conversion coalitions emerging with the end of the Cold War, these cases teach practical lessons about the processes and pitfalls of organizing across movements and classes.

About this title

About the Author

Fred Rose is a research professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University and Lead Organizer with the Pioneer Valley Project, a religious and labor coalition in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Reviews

Since the 1960s, labor, environmental, and peace groups have clashed over jobs, defense contracts, and efforts to preserve the environment. Are these groups to remain divided, or do they possess elements that could lead to new and powerful political coalitions? Rose (urban and environmental policy, Tufts Univ.) sees opportunities for the latter view. Combining theories of class politics with cases studies, he surveys the problems and possibilities of forging working- and middle-class coalitions around peace, environmental protection, and economic security. Opening with an excellent discussion of the elements of cross-class interactions, he then presents case studies based on interviews with loggers, environmentalists, peace advocates, and defense workers about the history of cross-class political alliances. He ultimately sees greater chances for cross-class coalitions among labor and environmental activists than for labor and peaceniks. But he's still optimistic. Well researched and cogently argued, this is worth reading alongside Community Activism and Feminist Politics (Routledge, 1997) and The Struggle for Ecological Democracy (Guilford, 1998). For all collections.
-Stephen L. Hupp, Swedenborg Memorial Lib., Urbana Univ., OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080148636X
• ISBN 13: 9780801486364
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272