Book Review

Sometimes writing book reviews can be a chore: particularly as the labour process of academics usually requires more rather than fewer words. Reading Labor's Troubador, however, was no chore. I read most of it in one sitting.	1
Joe Glazer is a singing and songwriting labour activist of Jewish immigrant descent. The book is a series of reflections on his life as a union organiser, labour educator, Foreign Service officer and, after his retirement, as Director of the Labor Heritage Foundation. In a very busy life he has sung at countless union and Democratic Party gatherings (he was a Humphrey rather than a Kennedy man). He documents, through his clear and simple prose and the words of his and others' songs, the role of song and singing in the American labour movement. The book incorporates the words of many songs and there is a comprehensive list of Glazer's discography.	2
The book is at its strongest when he is discussing his period as a union organiser and educator. His account of his experiences as a Foreign Service officer is less interesting, although he did manage to promote American working class culture in environments both in the United States and overseas where such was less than welcome. In doing so he illustrates that songs can break down barriers. The emotion of the song can soften the impact of the message without undermining its effectiveness. The latter part of the book is a refutation of the claim that the American labour movement no longer sings as a means of engendering mobilisation and militancy. This latter section is little more than a chronicle of the contemporary labour movements singers and songwriters. He makes his case but not with the verve and engagement of the earlier part of the book.	3
Along the way, Glazer provides glimpses of the characteristics of the American labour movement, often through observations about himself and his views on issues. He clearly admires the militancy, and the use of song made by, the Industrial Workers of the World. His account of the life and death of Joe Hill and the origins of The Ballad of Joe Hill is very moving. On the other hand, he is hostile to Communist Party trade union activists. He admires their dedication, but he has no understanding of why so many saw the Soviet Union as a real alternative to American capitalism, which he, in his way, spent much of his life contesting. He is puzzled by the anti-Americanism of British trade union leaders, although he records their positive response to his view that they are not quite as militant as they would have others believe: 'The people's flag is palest pink / It's not as red as you would think' (p.186). Moreover, he has an entirely predictable and uncritical view of the state of Israel. On the other hand, he notes the gender blindness of the American union movement, in part reflected in the words of many of his early, but not his later, songs.	4
When I was asked to write this review I protested that I knew little about the American labour heritage. I was told that my qualifications were more to do with being a singer who has also been a trade union activist. Indeed, as a member of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir, I know only too well the importance of the role of that organisation in the assertion of another version of identity, and Glazer's book made me wonder why song and working-class culture generally has not played a greater part in the Australian labour movement. This is not to underestimate the political and cultural contribution of the Waterside Workers Federation Film unit,, the Workers' Art/New Theatre movement, and the continuing efforts of under-resourced trade union choirs. In New Zealand, union meetings often begin and end with singing, in part a reflection of Maori and Islander influences. The nearest we have to Joe Glazer in Australia is Denis Kevans ('Australia's poet lorikeet'), whose songs and poems are for the most part self-published. Whatever else Glazer's book does, it reminds us that there is an American working-class culture—drawn from a variety of sources—that helps sustain the labour movement in the face of continuing and well-organised state and employer hostility.	5
Joe Glazer is no wide-eyed romantic. He says that a song is a song and it will not change the world. Nevertheless, he quotes with approval the former Steelworkers Union official Joe Molony who said 'when the music stops the revolution is ended and so is the progress of the union' (p. 79). Joe Glazer's book tells how songs and singing can keep us going. Perhaps we should begin the next union meeting with a song!	6
University of New South Wales JOHN O'BRIEN

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