So it was not my imagination...

Been spending a few days at your local, friendly, College Library. Yes, when I am done will leave behind a couple bucks. But this is about the history of Labor.

Finally got to use JSTOR effectively... and my lord... I found something that is of ahem concern. Not only is the field somewhat open, but it is somewhat of a desert over the last at least thirty years. Interest in Unions, Trades and all that is kind of absent... (Ok I still have a few journals to go through but still... the American Historical Review had ZERO direct articles. I found some that apply from the edges, but not direct articles)

My closest hit was the Journal of Interdisciplinary History... which was interesting.

Realize AHA IS the journal that most College Students and PhDs turn to. And this lack of interest in labor is worrisome.

So I guess I found more reason to actually do this.

Anyhow, back to my readying of Independence and Independence era economy... ah the joys of doing this.

Oh and I will have to keep this interesting.

Coming from a labor family, I have first hand experience with anti union bs.
My dad was union, but they were not hiring when I got out of school.
I really could not stay at home since being gay I knew I would eventually get outed or be found out and things would not be good for me there.
I worked in 'right to work' states for my whole working life and knew and understood that union would help, but also that I would get fired and black listed for being either gay or union in the heavy electrical construction biz.

it is a desert out there, and it is no coincidence that serious work stopped when neoliberalism took off...

And trust me, I get it why you kept your mouth shut... it just got workst over the last thirty years, even in "union friendly" states.

Thanks.
With admiration and appreciation.
Robert

different data base

for those of us who went to College in the Antediluvian period when 3x5s were required and a laptop was like oh wow you got one of those? This is like MY GOD, you kid me, you don't have to actually go down to the stacks, bound or not, and go through them one by one?

I mean... and I am ALMOST not kidding, making photocopies WAS like oh cutting edge.

Yes I could almost say we walked up the hill both ways, in the snow and LIKED IT... (Oh and at San Diego State, due to the Campus geography it woudl be accurate, the walking up a hill both ways)

JEH will have MANY articles about labor, and therefore hundreds of references to other articles.

read above, about the antediluvian period.

As I found a few that will keep me busy for a week or so.

And yes, readying Commons already... GOOGLE BOOKS

did manage to find more articles, but still not the wealth that I expected in specialized journals.

Still I got enough to do the initial work, and of course starting with Adam Smith... I READ the Wealth some years ago... and quite frankly not looking forwards to either Smith, or for that matter Marx and Das Kapital.

One of the historiographical essays in the History of Labor noticed the same thing I have already noticed. There is some dread of speaking of class conflict and class consciousness. I'd say, this is just a working theory right now, that this fear of talking of these subjects came out of the Cold War and the Red Scare. Been a while but except for a few people like Zinn (Yes, I know I got to get to his work too)... is simply not done... not even the new left dares go there. OF course I will be glad to "eat my shoe" and find out that this working theory is just wrong.

:-)

And for those of you just starting college and this research thingy, this is how it works. You start with one theory... and should be able to change your working theory as research shows you that either you are wrong, or onto something.

And yes kids... (starting to sound like an old person) you got no idea how good you darn got it these days... I mean it took me three hours to find enough journal articles that might be distantly, or directly, related to the question at hand that will keep me busy for at least a couple months... That much work would have taken DAYS not a total of oh ten hours... worst case. Oy and the cost of making those photocopies if I wanted to take them home... instead of a THUMB DRIVE and if I need to, I'll print, otherwise... not really. So it is even more ecologically sound.

Oy... now back to Smith and the Wealth... at least, unlike Marx, he has a lively style...