Between Craft and Class: Skilled Workers and Factory Politics in the United States and Britain, 1890-1922

318 Pages·1988·5.542 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Haydu

BETWEEN CRAFT AND CLASS

BETWEEN CRAFT
AND CLASS
Skilled Workers and Factory Politics
in the United States and Britain,
1890—1922
JEFFREY HAYDU
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 1988 by
The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haydu, Jeffrey.
Between craft and class: skilled workers and factory politics in
the United States and Britain, 1890—1922 / Jeffrey Haydu.
p. cm.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0—520—06060—1 (alk. paper)
1. Labor and laboring classes—United States—Political activity—
History. 2. Labor and laboring classes—Great Britain—Political
activity—History. 3. Artisans—United States—History.
4. Artisans—Great Britain—History. 5. Social classes—United
States—History. 6. Social classes—Great Britain—History.
I. Title.
HD8076. H39 1988
322’.2’0941—d019 87—22169
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
T0 Colin

Contents
Acknowledgments
Factory Politics and Selective Mobilization
The Employers’ Challenge to Craft Standards 26
In Defense of the Trade: From Local Struggles to National
Settlements, 1890—1901 60
The Transformation of Craft Militancy, 1900—1914 90
The Impact of World War I 125
Coventry: Workers’ Control and Industrial Relations
Reform 144
Bridgeport: Craft Radicalism and Management Control 174
Patterns of Factory Politics in Comparative Perspective 204
Notes 223
Bibliography 277
Index 297
vii

Acknowledgments
In writing this book I have learned a great deal about two kinds of
craftsmanship: that of the skilled worker and that of the scholar.
My guides to the former are amply footnoted. For the latter I am
most grateful to Michael Burawoy, Thomas Laqueur, and William
Kornhauser. Michael Burawoy championed the role of theory in
organizing historical interpretation when I began to revel in the
details; Thomas Laqueur defended the integrity of historical actors
against my sociological perspective; and William Kornhauser up-
held the need for analytical rigor when I got sloppy. I like to think
that no one book could ever meet each of these men’s standards. If
mine will fully satisfy none of them, it has still benefited from their
distinct perspectives. None, moreover, requires public absolution
for persisting deficiencies. The book’s shortcomings are actually to
these scholars’ credit: each pressed his points but supported my
efforts to find my own way.
Along that way, Craig Heron’s thorough reading and construc-
tive criticisms of one draft provided encouragement and direc-
tion for subsequent revisions. Victoria Bonnell, Harold Wilensky,
and Neil Smelser offered useful advice on individual sections of
the manuscript. Among Kathy Mooney’s many contributions to the
book, I will single out only one: her editorial counsel made the
manuscript more literate and its author appreciate yet another
craft, that of writing. Thanks are also owed to my new colleagues
in the Department of Sociology at Syracuse University. I joined
them too recently for this book to reflect their influence, but their
ix