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Article: Monkey business in Union Square: a cultural analysis of the Klein's-Ohrbach's strikes of 1934-5.
- Article from:
- Journal of Social History
- Article date:
- September 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction: Strike As Drama
Labor historians in recent years have treated strikes as relatively marginal events, prefering instead to focus the cultural worlds and day-to-day lives of working-class people. In comparison to the rich meanings and analysis these "new labor historians" have unearthed in day-to-day life, strikes seem dull events indeed, especially as described by the "old labor history" of John R. Commons and his students. I would argue, as other historians have recently suggested, that strikes are in fact central to working class history, and that by redefining strikes we will be able to make them as rich and complex as any other facet of ...