Victor Griffuelhes and French Syndicalism 1895-1922 [Hardcover]

Bruce Vandervort (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr; 1St Edition edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807120456
• ISBN-13: 978-0807120453
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,315,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent study in French labor history., September 4, 1998

By 

Francis McCollum Feeley, VISITING SCHOLAR, DE... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victor Griffuelhes and French Syndicalism 1895-1922 (Hardcover)

Professor Vandervort offers readers of European history a balanced account of the life and times of a French revolutionary labor leader at the beginning of this century.

Victor Griffuelhes, coauthor of the influential "Charter of Amiens" (1906) and General Secretary of the Confederation Generale du Travail (CGT) from 1901 to 1909, rose from modest origins to lead what was arguably one of the most dynamic labor movements in Europe before the First World War. His life, not unlike Professor Vandervort's, represents an odyssey through shifting political paradigms and violent global upheavals.

Disarmingly personal at times, Professor Vandervort's account provides us with a sensitive and tough-minded analysis of his subject, explaining how a person's consciousness is moved by dialectical changes beyond the control of any individual. Moreover, this book offers readers an up-to-date historiography of the French labor movement.

The author expresses skepticism toward the current linguistic debate among leading French labor historians, like Joan Scott and William Sewell, who argue for "the primacy of discourse over class in the formulation of workers' politics." Following in the tradition of radical historians like Harvey Goldberg, Georges Haupt, E.P. Thompson, Georges Lefranc, Edouard Dolleans, Maurice Dommanget, Jean Maitron, and Jacques Julliard, Professor Vandervort does not hesitate to disagree with and point out the shortcommings of his closest intellectual allies.

Because of its honesty and its richly detailed descriptions, "Victor Griffuelhes and French Syndicalism, 1895-1922" comes highly recommended to any student of power politics and social class relationships. This book serves well as an antidote for the many vapid accounts in quantitative history that measure the body and omit the soul.