View the Table of Contents. Read the Preface.
"Laboras Home Front is an outstanding contribution. Balanced and
fair-minded, Kerstenas richly documented account puts the AFL at
the center of wartime labor relations and domestic history
generally. . . . Kersten also sheds new light on the key role of
the AFL in the emergence of social democratic liberalism during the
era of World War II."
--Robert H. Zieger, University of Florida
"Labor's Home Front is the work of a careful and thorough
historian. Kersten establishes the centrality of the often
neglected American Federation of Labor to the story of labor's
uphill efforts during World War II to breathe life into the lofty
ideals embodied in the Four Freedoms. He skillfully weaves his case
studies--on gender, race, union rivalries, safety, the open shop,
and postwar planning--into a narrative fully attentive to the
evolution of the Federation's ideology and politics, poignantly
conveying the spirit of sacrifice and suffering without
romanticizing his subjects. This is a genuinely important
book."
--Eric Arnesen, author of "Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad
Workers and the Struggle for Equality"
One of the oldest, strongest, and largest labor organizations in
the U.S., the American Federation of Labor (AFL) had 4 million
members in over 20,000 union locals during World War II. The AFL
played a key role in wartime production and was a major actor in
the contentious relationship between the state, organized labor,
and the working class in the 1940s. The war years are pivotal in
the history of American labor, but books on the AFL's experiences
are scant, with far more on the radical Congress of Industrial
Unions(CIO).
Andrew E. Kersten closes this gap with Labor's Home Front,
challenging us to reconsider the AFL and its influence on
twentieth-century history. Kersten details the union's
contributions to wartime labor relations, its opposition to the
open shop movement, divided support for fair employment and equity
for women and African American workers, its constant battles with
the CIO, and its significant efforts to reshape American society,
economics, and politics after the war. Throughout, Kersten frames
his narrative with an original, central theme: that despite its
conservative nature, the AFL was dramatically transformed during
World War II, becoming a more powerful progressive force that
pushed for liberal change.
General
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