A living wage : American workers and the making of consumer society /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Glickman, Lawrence B., 1963-
Imprint:Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1997.
Description:1 online resource (xvi, 220 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11308489
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781501702228
150170222X
0801433576
9780801433573
0801486149
9780801486142
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 165-213) and index.
Restrictions unspecified
Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010.
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve
Print version record.
Summary:"A Living Wage," the rallying cry of union activists, is a concept with a revealing history, here documented by Lawrence B. Glickman. The labor movement's response to wages shows how American workers negotiated the transition from artisan to consumer, opening up new political possibilities for organized workers. At the same time, however, they created contradictions that continue to haunt the labor movement today. Nineteenth-century workers saw wages as dangerous, Glickman reveals, because workers hoped to become self-employed artisans rather than permanent employees.
In the decades after the Civil War, organized workers began to view wage labor differently. Redefining working-class identity in consumerist terms, unions demanded a wage that would reward workers commensurate with their needs as consumers. Glickman brings the story of the living wage up to the present, clearly demonstrating how a historical perspective on the concept of a living wage can inform our understanding of current controversies.
Other form:Print version: Glickman, Lawrence B., 1963- Living wage. Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1997 0801433576