Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States (Paperback)

by Sharon Smith (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Workers in the United States have a rich tradition of fighting back and achieving gains previously thought unthinkable, from the weekend, to health care, to the right to even form a union.

But in 2005, the number of workers organized in unions reached a 100-year low in both the public and private sectors, even though more and more people would like the protection of a union, and real wages for most workers have stagnated or declined since the early 1970s.

Smith explores how the connection between the US labor movement and the Democratic Party, with its extensive corporate ties, has repeatedly held back working-class struggles. And she closely examines the role of the labor movement in the 2004 presidential election, tracing the shrinking electoral influence of organized labor and the failure of labor-management cooperation, "business unionism," and reliance on the Democrats to deliver any real gains.

Smith shows how a return to the fighting traditions of US labor history, with their emphasis on rank-and-file strategies for change, can turn around the labor movement.

Subterranean Fire brings working-class history to light and reveals its lessons for today.

Sharon Smith is the author of Women and Socialism, also published by Haymarket Books, as well as many articles on women's liberation and the US working class. Her writings appear regularly in Socialist Worker newspaper and the International Socialist Review. She has also written for the journal Historical Materialism and is a contributor to Iraq Under Siege :The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War and Women and the Revolution by Ethel Mannin. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

About the Author
Sharon Smith is the author of Women and Socialism, also published by Haymarket books, as well as many articles on women's liberation and the U.S. working class. Her writings appear regularly in Socialist Worker newspaper and the International Socialist Review.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Haymarket Books (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193185923X
• ISBN-13: 978-1931859233
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #463,458 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Just read, Organize!, July 13, 2006

By	R. Jacobs "Ron Jacobs" (Asheville, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are stories in this book that should be part of every textbook in the United States. The attacks on the miners in the Appalachians, the Ludlow massacre of women and children in Colorado, the police and military attacks on striking textile workers in Gastonia, NC, the remarks of various capitalists regarding their opinion of those that made them their riches, the persecution of labor and other radicals throughout the past 150 years, and the manipulation of the public by the two-party system--a manipulation that means the worker gets screwed no matter who he or she votes for. Women on the barricades and the Wobblies. Likewise, the tales of racial and ethnic prejudices that caused strikes and solidarity to fall apart should be told. This latter aspect of US labor history is very important today as immigrants flex their political muscle in the streets of the country and the power elites attempt to create and widen divisions between these immigrants and those US workers that were born here. If workers don't learn from history and oppose these attempts to divide us, Subterranean Fire makes it abundantly clear that all workers will suffer. And only the bosses will win. When lessons from our history are common knowledge we can move ahead in a manner that will bring a movement back onto US soil that protects the lives and rights of the working people in this country.
Smith's book is the perfect vehicle for such an endeavor. It is a readable, lively tale of the worker's movement in the United States. A collection of statistics and anecdotal stories combined with a critical analysis, it is at times despairingly downbeat and at other times exhilaratingly hopeful. Subterranean Fire's a piece of agitational literature. If there's one message that exists in its pages, it is this: Don't just read, organize.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A critical history of the U.S. labor movement and workers' resistance from the nineteenth century to the present day, May 3, 2006

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Sharon Smith's Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States is a critical history of the U.S. labor movement and workers' resistance from the nineteenth century to the present day. From class struggle, to the uphill battle for industrial unions, to the harsh retaliation of employers, to the dismantling of the New Deal labor laws by Neoliberal presidents and the rise of the Neocons, Subterranean Fire explores a fierce battle on both sides for power, wealth, and legitimacy. A very heavily researched history that not only chronicles worker efforts to fight back, but also warns against the uncertain future that excessive compliance can and might bring, Subterranean Fire is informative reading, especially for students of the American labor movement.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, May 28, 2006

By	John Green (Hayward CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This brilliant book is indispensable reading for any labor activist worth their salt. Get it and clear your schedule for the next 24 hours while you soak up the electrifying history of working-class radicalism in the United States.

Smith's case is meticulous and convincing: The American working-class is far more combative and ingenuitive than its given credit for by the mainstream. And the author's conclusions are provocative: The working-class is a juggernaut in need of an independent, democratic leadership that can fully realize its class interests.

This book is worth it for the highlights of class struggle alone from Toledo, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Birmingham, Detroit, New York, Seattle and beyond. But what makes it truly valuable is its political analysis of the current labor movement slump. Smith is no labor cheerleader nor academic arm-chair quarterback, she's the salt of the movement.