Synopses & Reviews
"Defines the challenges facing the movement and offers comprehensive prescriptions for its successful transformation."
The George Washington Law Review
A valuable analysis of the rise, fall, and--hopefullythe revival of unionism in America. [The book] distills into readable form a mass of legal and empirical analysis of what has been happening in the workplaces of the United States and other industrial democracies. Most important, Craver has drawn a blueprint of what must be done to save collective bargaining in this centurymust reading for scholars, lawmakers, and, especially, union leaders themselves.
Paul C. Weiler, Harvard Law SchoolAuthor of Governing the Workplace: The Future of Labor and Employment Law
"A thoroughly researched, insightful, and readable look at why American unions have declined. . . . This is a very informative analyis of a vital topic, and it will have a multidisciplinary appeal to anyone interested in union- management relations.
Peter Feuille, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois
When employees at firms like Greyhound and Eastern Airlines walk out to protest wage and benefit reductions, they are permanently replaced and their representative labor unions destroyed. Every year, the threat or drama of a high-profile strikein air traffic control towers, at Amtrak, or at Caterpillarmakes national headlines and, every year, several hundred thousand unrepresented American employees are discharged without good cause.
During the past decade, employer opposition to unions has increased. Industrial and demographic changes have eroded traditional blue-collar labor support, and class-based myths have discouraged organization among white-collar workers. As the American labor movement begins its second century, it is confronted by challenges that threaten its very existence. Is the decline of the American labor movement symptomatic of a terminal condition?
In this work, Charles Craver presents an incisive analysis of the current state of the American labor movement and a manifesto for how this crucial institution can be revitalized. Journeying with the reader from the inception of labor unions through their heyday and to the present, Craver examines the roots of their decline, the current factors which contribute to their dismal condition, and the actions that are needed--such as the recruitment of female and minority employees and appeals to white-collar personnel--that are necessary to ensure union viability in the 21st century.
Craver thoughtfully discusses what labor organizations must do to organize new workers, to enhance their economic and political power, and to adapt to modern-day advances and to an increasingly global economy. He also suggests changes that must be made in the National Labor Relations Act. This book is essential reading for lawyers, scholars, and policy-makers, as well as all those concerned with the future of the labor movement.
Review
"Well-organized, well-written, and engaging. I know of no other work that provides such an in-depth analysis of how Latinos and Asian-Americans define racial issues. " - Woody Doane, co-editor of White Out: the Continuing Significance of Race
Review
“. . . she applies a sharp analysis to the informants racial views and experiences, producing some fascinating insights, e.g., the ‘pervasive impact of the USs currently dominant color-blind racial ideology on those in the middle.”
- Choice
Review
"Tells the story of the "in-between" racial and ethnic groups in America through in-depth interviews and analyses, explaining the recent phenomenon developing around discriminated and isolated Latino and Asian American groups. - Nichi Bei Times
Review
"[T]his well-written book gives ample voice to the interviewees and would fit well into introductory classes on race/ethnicity. It offers useful insights in the process of making its argument."
“Well-organized, well-written, and engaging. I know of no other work that provides such an in-depth analysis of how Latinos and Asian-Americans define racial issues.”
“. . . she applies a sharp analysis to the informants’ racial views and experiences, producing some fascinating insights, e.g., the ‘pervasive impact’ of the US’s currently dominant color-blind racial ideology on those in the middle.”
“Tells the story of the “in-between” racial and ethnic groups in America through in-depth interviews and analyses, explaining the recent phenomenon developing around discriminated and isolated Latino and Asian American groups.”
Synopsis
The divide over race is usually framed as one over Black and White. Sociologist Eileen OBrien is interested in that middle terrain, what sits in the ever-increasing gray area she dubbed the racial middle.
The Racial Middle, tells the story of the other racial and ethnic groups in America, mainly Latinos and Asian Americans, two of the largest and fastest-growing minorities in the United States. Using dozens of in-depth interviews with people of various ethnic and generational backgrounds, Eileen O’Brien challenges the notion that, to fit into American culture, the only options available to Latinos and Asian Americans are either to become white or to become brown.
Instead, she offers a wholly unique analysis of Latinos and Asian Americans own distinctive experiences—those that arent typically White nor Black. Though living alongside Whites and Blacks certainly frames some of their own identities and interpretations of race, OBrien keenly observes that these groups struggles with discrimination, their perceived isolation from members of other races, and even how they define racial justice, are all significant realities that inform their daily lives and, importantly, influence their opportunities for advancement in society.
A refreshing and lively approach to understanding race and ethnicity in the twenty-first century, The Racial Middle gives voice to Latinos and Asian-Americans place in this countrys increasingly complex racial mosaic.
About the Author
Eileen OBrien is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Christopher Newport University, Virginia. She is the author of Whites Confront Racism: Antiracists and Their Paths to Action and, with Joe Feagin, White Men on Race. She is the co-editor, with Joseph Healey, of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Selected Readings.