Rank and File: Personal Histories by Working-Class Organizers (Princeton Paperbacks)

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary Americans, Extradordinary Stories
Review: From the banal title of this book you might think you're in for a collection of stories about endless collective bargaining and the monotonous details of how to win a longer lunch break. Don't let the less than thrilling title keep you from this important book. What is actually contained between the covers are remarkable life histories and a rich tapestry of American experiences. The profiles in this book are as diverse as the working class itself. The characters are women and men, African-American and Eastern European. Some were born in urban ghettos, others raised on remote wind-swept farms. Some had absent parents or apolitical guardians already defeated by life with only racial and religious bigotry to pass on as a belief system. Others had parents whose views would be considered progressive today and then must have seemed dangerously radical. Some set out to be organizers but most had no intention of doing anything more than finding steady work. At some point however, each found themselves thrust head first into the class struggle and grabbed a hold of history. It is fortunate these stories have not been lost. Add this to your library.

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary Americans, Extradordinary Stories
Review: From the banal title of this book you might think you're in for a collection of stories about endless collective bargaining and the monotonous details of how to win a longer lunch break. Don't let the less than thrilling title keep you from this important book. What is actually contained between the covers are remarkable life histories and a rich tapestry of American experiences. The profiles in this book are as diverse as the working class itself. The characters are women and men, African-American and Eastern European. Some were born in urban ghettos, others raised on remote wind-swept farms. Some had absent parents or apolitical guardians already defeated by life with only racial and religious bigotry to pass on as a belief system. Others had parents whose views would be considered progressive today and then must have seemed dangerously radical. Some set out to be organizers but most had no intention of doing anything more than finding steady work. At some point however, each found themselves thrust head first into the class struggle and grabbed a hold of history. It is fortunate these stories have not been lost. Add this to your library.