The essays in this volume focus on the role of women in the work force. They explore how organized sports, social associations of all kinds and the educational system faced by the children of worker were profoundly linked to work place and community activism. They examine why radical labor organizations that could win major strikes often could not sustain themselves as permanent institutions. Finally, the essays argue that simultaneous leadership changes in management and labor in the auto industry were less the result of internal conflicts than needed structural adjustments to changing economic and political realities. Interwoven into all of the essays is the intricate dynamic between immigrant and native-born, between different immigrant waves and the groups, and between workers at different skill levels. Work,Recreation, and Culture enriches and expands the established labor narratives.
Ten essays from various meetings of the Lowell Conference on Industrial History, contribute to the new style of labor history that sees beyond labor unions and strikes. They consider such topics as women in the work force, how organized sports and the educational system has been linked to activism in the work place and the community, why unions cou
