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University of California Press

Cultures of Solidarity

Consciousness, Action, and Contemporary American Workers
by Rick Fantasia (Author)
Paperback eBook
Price: $33.95 / £29.00
Publication Date: Aug 1989
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 320
ISBN: 9780520067950
Trim Size: 6 x 9
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About the Book

A commonplace assumption about American workers is that they lack class consciousness. This perception has baffled social scientists, demoralized activists, and generated a significant literature on American exceptionalism. In this provocative book, a young sociologist takes the prevailing assumptions to task and sheds new light upon this very important issue. In three vivid case studies Fantasia explores the complicated, multi-faceted dynamics of American working-class consciousness and collective action.

About the Author

Rick Fantasia is Associate Professor of Sociology at Smith College.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part One: Theoretical Directions and the Historical Terrain
1. Culture and Consciousness in Action
2. Corporate Action and the Bounds of Solidarity

Part Two: Contemporary Expressions of Consciousness
and Action
3· The Internal Dynamics of Wildcat Strikes: Routinization
and Its Discontents
4· Union Organizing and Collective Interaction: "Like a
Thief in the Night"
5· The Strike as Emergent Culture: Community and
Collective Action
6. The Limits and Possibilities of Trade Union Action

Appendix
The Measures Taken: Some Notes on Methodology
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Reviews

"I would rate this book near the top of whatever scales measure importance. Good, strong, first-rate, unusually worthy, original—these are the adjectives that come to my mind."—Kai Erikson, Yale University

"This is a powerful and important book. It will challenge and educate specialists in the areas of the sociology and history of unions and social movements and the sociology of organizations."—Michael Schwartz, SUNY, Stony Brook

Awards

  • Award for the Best Book in Collective Behavior and Social Movements 1990, American Sociological Association
  • Sociology of Culture Book Award 1992, American Sociological Association