Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell): My Decade Fighting for the Labor Movement, by Jane McAlevey. Verso Books, New York, 2014, 332 pp., ISBN: 978 1 78168 315 6, £9.99, paperback.
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12100 |
| Published date | 01 December 2014 |
| Date | 01 December 2014 |
consistently associated with higher levels of participation in elections (and with voting
for Democrats). The point is that the net effect of unions was greater when there were
relatively more private-sector members with less education: ‘unions’ role in narrowing
the participation gap in elections is stronger in the private sector’ (p. 167). This all
translates into declining union political influence and a reduced ability to secure
policies that promote economic equality.
Rosenfeld takes on other aspects of union decline as well, but his arguments are less
compelling. His chapter on strikes is largely based on a historical review, and a
selective mention of a few ill-fated strikes, such as PATCO and Phelps Dodge. His
general conclusion that the decline of strikes is tied to a loss of leverage is undoubtedly
accurate, but his anecdotal case is less powerful than the quantitative support he
provides for the book’s main themes.
Rosenfeld’s examination of immigrant workers does not address the role of unions
in reducing inequality. Rather, he explores the potential suggested by some academics
and labour activists that immigrant worker organizing may help reverse labour’s
downward spiral. This solidaristic argument suggests that Latin American immi-
grants bring with them a set of political attitudes favourable to direct action and
union organization. Rosenfeld dissects recent experience and does uncover greater
support for unions among non-Mexican Hispanic immigrants when compared with
non-immigrant whites, but Mexican immigrants display no such tendency. Indeed,
those who have been in the country less than 20 years are only half as likely to be
unionized as whites.
This is a well-written book, and the bulk of the content will be accessible to
undergraduate students and an educated lay audience. Academic social scientists will
appreciate the details of statistical methodology provided in a lengthy appendix, but
this can be skipped by those less well versed in quantitative techniques.
What Unions No Longer Do contributes to our understanding of the negative side
effects of union decline. For those who value an open society that promotes fairness
and equal access to opportunity, the conclusions are troubling. As Rosenfeld hints in
his concluding chapter, it may be both necessary and possible that new forms of
worker organization emerge to take on the unheralded union role of promoting
economic equality.
RICHARD HURD
Cornell University
Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell): My Decade Fighting for the Labor Move-
ment, by Jane McAlevey. Verso Books, New York, 2014, 332 pp., ISBN:
978 1 78168 315 6, £9.99, paperback.
This non-academic, popular book is a ‘must-read’ for industrial relations scholars,
as it provides a first-hand account of trade union revitalization. McAlevey’s
message is that trade unionism becomes a revitalized social movement by building
workers’ organization through grass-roots struggles. Paid officials play a key role
in teaching the craft of organizing to a layer of worker-leaders that is the crucial
agent of union renewal. Workers, however, retain decision-making power, thereby
making union democratization central to revitalization. By targeting the strongest
and best employers, facing down intimidation by union busters, and being willing
to take protracted strike action, unions can deliver significant improvements
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Book Review 823
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/London School of Economics.
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