European University Institute Library

Making the world safe for workers, labor, the Left, and Wilsonian internationalism, Elizabeth McKillen

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Making the world safe for workers

bibliography

835115172

Elizabeth McKillen

The working class in American history

labor, the Left, and Wilsonian internationalism

In this intellectually ambitious study, Elizabeth McKillen explores the significance of Wilsonian internationalism for workers and the influence of American labor in both shaping and undermining the foreign policies and war mobilization efforts of Woodrow Wilson's administration. During his presidency, Wilson contended with strong anti-imperialist and antiwar currents that coursed through the U.S. labor movement as well as revolutionary upheavals and labor unrest abroad that undermined his diplomatic initiatives. McKillen highlights the major fault lines that emerged within labor circles as Wilson pursued his agenda in the context of Mexican and European revolutions, World War I, and the Versailles Peace Conference. McKillen's spotlight falls particularly on the American Federation of Labor, whose leadership collaborated extensively with Wilson, assisting with propaganda, policy, and diplomacy. AFL founder Samuel Gompers eventually served as an advisor to the Wilson administration at Versailles and played a leading role in shaping the peace treaty's labor provisions and constructing the International Labor Organization. At the same time, McKillen asserts, other labor groups (and even sub-groups within the AFL) vehemently opposed Wilsonian internationalism. Abroad, the Wilsonian vision faced challenges from both European labor moderates and communists. Among U.S. groups, particularly effective opposition came from the U.S. Socialist Party, which framed the debate over democratic control of industry as an anti-war and anti-imperialist issue. Irish Americans and German Americans, spurred by European labor leaders and seeking support for revolution in their homelands, also joined sides against Wilson, as did the IWW and left-leaning African American and women workers. Even as the AFL leadership toiled on Wilson's behalf, a shifting coterie of these oppositional groups mounted sophisticated critiques. They deconstructed propaganda, staged strikes, and built surprising political alliances; ultimately, they undermined Wilson's agenda to the point that he was unable to realize some of his dearest international ambitions. As McKillen shows, the choice to collaborate with or resist U.S. foreign policy remained an important one for labor throughout the twentieth century. In fact, it continues to resonate today in debates over the global economy, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the impact of U.S. policies on workers at home and abroad --, Provided by Publisher

Part I Mexico and the Western Hemisphere Chapter 1 The Mexican Revolution as Catalyst 23 Part II World War I and the U.S. Labor Debate over Neutrality and Preparedness Chapter 2 The Outbreak of World War I and the Socialist War on War 56 Chapter 3 Antiwar Cultures of the AFL, the Debate over Preparedness, and the Gompers Turnabout 91 Part III U.S. Belligerency Chapter 4 Dialectical Relationships: Collaboration and Resistance in Wartime 128 Chapter 5 The AFL, International Labor Politics, and Labor Dissent in 1918 152 Part IV Versailles and Its Aftermath Chapter 6 Making the World Safe for Workers? The AFL, Wilson, and the Creation of the ILO at Versailles 181 Chapter 7 U.S. Labor Irreconcilables and Reservationists and the Founding ILO Conference in Washington, D.C., November 1919 208 Conclusion 241 Notes 247 Abbreviations and Primary Sources 287 Index