The Next Upsurge: Labor and the New Social Movements (ILR Press Book)

C. Wright Mills once hoped that the agenda-setting contributions of 'a brace of labor intellectuals' would help the unions move 'upstream against the main drift.' Dan Clawson is just that kind of activist-scholar, whose commitment, insight,and imaginative connectivity are all on wonderful display in The Next Upsurge. His remarkable understanding of labor history, management tactics, and social movement dynamics will advance the kind of informed debate essential to the reconstruction of the American trade unions and the fusion between those institutions and new forms of 21st-century social protest.

Clawson argues that explosive expansions occur only when the labor movement fuses with social struggles against racism and for broader economic justice, as it did in the 1930s.... The Next Upsurge also argues that in order to succeed, organizing drives must empower rank-and-file workers.... The Next Upsurge is a must-read for all activists-in unions or otherwise-who want to see the labor movement turn around.

Clawson is right in contending that the labor movement's survival, let alone revival, depends on unions transforming themselves into rank-and-file controlled, militant social as well as economic organizations that undertake community and workplace struggles.... One of the best features of Clawson's analysis is that he pays serious attention to globalization and resistance as a potential source of change. Perhaps the growing global justice movement, which includes some industrial unions such as the steelworkers, as well as students, feminists, and environmentalists, will help spur a new upsurge from the outside.

Clawson reports with perceptive detail about many of the recent and ongoing campaigns... that he believes might give impetus to an upsurge. He believes labor alliances with other movements will expand the meaning and ambition of the labor movement.

Clawson's book is an invaluable guide to right and wrong turns. It contains many important insights into the dynamics of labor-based movement-building-past, present, and future. It is readable, accessible, and should be studied closely by activists still seeking a favorable resolution of 'the tension/contradiction between the radical democratic potential' of organized labor and the less-inspiring reality of our existing unions.

Clawson's vision of a new labor movement infused with the dynamic strategies and broad agendas of the new social movements is not only persuasive, it is necessary if we ever want to create a decent world for those who must work for a living. A powerful book by one of labor's smartest and most enthusiastic champions.

Dan Clawson doesn't tell unions and other workers' organizations what to do; he looks at what they are doing and what seems to be working best. The result is not only an exciting read, but a powerful argument for a more feminist and ethnically aware approach to organizing.

Relentlessly optimistic, yet judicious and rooted in careful research on recent developments in labor and other progressive movements, Clawson's highly readable book makes a compelling case for the potential resurgence of unionism. The Next Upsurge: Labor and the New Social Movements is a must read for anyone who cares about the future of labor and social justice.

The main strength of the book is in its stories. Clawson has gathered together a range of accounts of inspiring activist struggles that go beyond the 'normal' frame of union-management battles, strikes, and so on, moments that have mobilized grassroots energy from diverse sources, uniting unions with community groups, upsetting expectations, disrupting business as usual, and (in a few cases) winning some signal victories. A number of these accounts are enriched by personal interviews.

This thoughtful and bracing book examines a host of new initiatives that link labor organizing to communities, students, minorities, and women. Clawson argues that these experiments may show us the path to a new upsurge from below in which a revived labor movement would play a central role. We should all hope so, not only for the sake of a revived labor movement, but also for the sake of a revived American democracy.

Whenever those of us in the UK labour movement feel despondent, we need only look across the Atlantic to know it could be worse.... Clawson unravels the issue of globalization to reveal that the true enemy of the workers is not cheaper foreign labour, but national and imperialistic (through the global finance institutions) neoliberal policies of privatization, outsourcing, and deregulation. Labour needs to understand these components to devise a political strategy to oppose its true detractors.... Clawson's book shows that an integration of labour, students, and activists from social movements can bring results.