David Montgomery’s Working Class: Reconsidering a labor historian's legacy
Shel Stromquist, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Iowa
The publication of David Montgomery’s most important essays in a single volume invites us to evaluate the significance of his scholarship and its continuing relevance to the field. Montgomery is well known as a historian who put class at the center of his analysis, who understood the ebb and flow of workers’ self-activity and the rich fabric of a class culture on which workers drew. Interest in other social identities has enriched and deepened our understanding of the roots of inequality and the bases for collective action. We ask what bearing Montgomery’s class-centered work has on these perspectives.
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This event is free, but all participants must register in advance. Space is limited, so please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend.
Register and Request PaperAbout the Labor History Seminar Series
This seminar provides a forum for works in progress that explore the history of working class people, communities, and culture; class and state policy; unions and popular political movements; and other related topics. The seminar’s co-sponsors are the history departments of DePaul University, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture at the University of Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, and the Labor and Working-Class History Association.