| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.4

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 279 words from this article are provided below; about 534 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Howard Kimeldorf. Battling for American Labor: Wobblies, Craft Workers, and the Making of the Union Movement. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1999. Pp. x, 244. Cloth $45.00, paper $17.95.

During the early twentieth century, labor organizations in the United States were formed in the shadows of the opposing ideologies of capitalism and socialism. While the American Federation of Labor (AFL) championed unions in the context of existing economic arrangements, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) sought to remake the entire society. But it would be a mistake to conclude that workers joining these labor organizations were promoting the organization's overarching ideology. At the local level, unions were built not as the result of the transformation of workers by theory or doctrine but out of working people's ongoing search for a viable strategy for gaining power at the workplace. Whether affiliated with the AFL or the IWW, workers practiced the art of the possible, with few demonstrated preconceptions about the proper orientation of their union. This is the argument of Howard Kimeldorf's book. 1

Kimmeldorf suggests that the negative propaganda that the AFL and the IWW each propagated about the other has for generations obscured their practical similarities. Both groups sought power "at the point of production": that is, through the direct use of economic muscle rather than by means of political influence. True, the membership of the AFL, representing largely skilled workers, was exclusive, and the IWW, representing the unskilled, was radically inclusive. In actual practice, however, each labor organization often adopted the approach of the other if that approach created a viable power base. . . .

There are about 534 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.