"When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker threatened the collective bargaining rights of the state's public-sector employees in early 2011, the huge protests that erupted in response put the labor movement back on the nation's front pages. It was a fleeting reminder of a not-so-distant past when the "labor question"-and the power of organized labor-was part and parcel of a century-long struggle for justice and equality in America. Now, on the heels of the expansive "Occupy Wall Street" movement, the lessons of history-in seemingly short supply-are a vital handhold for the thousands of activists and citizens everywhere who sense that something has gone terribly wrong. This pithy but accessible volume provides readers with an understanding of the history that is directly relevant to the economic and political crises working people face today, and points the way to a revitalized twenty-first-century labor movement. With original contributions from leading labor historians, social critics, and activists, Labor Rising makes crucial connections between the past and present, and then looks forward, asking how we might imagine a different future for all Americans"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references.

Political economy. Organized labor: Declining source of hope? / Bill Fletcher Jr. Eco-Keynesianism, green jobs, and labor's need to embrace climate justice / Andrew Ross On economics and labor solidarity / Marcellus Andrews Ghost marks and rising spirits in an industrial landscape: communication and imagination in the rebirth of labor / Elizabeth Faue Beyond borders. Immigrant workers and labor's future / Ruth Milkman

The foundations of modern farm worker unionism: from UFW to PCUN / Matthew Garcia and Mario Sifuentez Supply-chain tourist: or how Wal-Mart has transformed the contemporary labor question / Nelson Lichtenstein Forgetting and remembering: workers, the U.S. empire, and the post-9/11 era / Dorothy Fujita-Rony Bananas, elephants, and a coup: learning international solidarity the hard way / Dana Frank Afterword: labor rising? / Frances Fox Piven.