Let me return to the question I posed several days ago about
the way forward by saying a few words not about desirable policies but rather
about the ongoing organizational grassroots support for those policies that is
required if they are to be enacted. We tend to focus, quite naturally, on
periodic elections which have something of the character of flash mobs. But
major change is going to require established structures that continue to
function effectively between elections. Churches are one such example and they
help to explain why evangelical Christians have had a disproportionate impact
on public policy. The most successful organizational structure in the modern
world for the promotion and implementation of public policy is of course the
Corporation. Unfortunately, corporations by and large do not promote the sorts
of policies that I wish to see enacted so I must look elsewhere.
I am old enough to remember when labor unions played this
role on the left in America. The unions that still exist are an important part
of the struggle for progressive policies but their membership has been
dramatically reduced both by economic changes and by deliberate reactionary
efforts, principally by Republicans but also, alas, by corporate Democrats.
Undoing antiunion laws would be a good step but for structural reasons it seems
unlikely that labor unions of the old sort can again play the very large role
that they once did in American politics.
So we must ask the question: what organizational structures
can take the place of labor unions? I do not really know the answer to this
question although I am fairly certain that there is no simple response. I
invite readers to draw upon their experience as well as their wisdom to offer
suggestions as to how we might build what could become an effective progressive
movement.
A huge protest movement against the whole neoliberal system in Chile began in October 2019. As a result, we will begin the process of a constituent assembly for a new Constitution in October, the present Constitution being the product of the Pinochet dictatorship and a guarantee of the neoliberal order. This protest movement only faded when the pandemic arrived and is still latent as is evident from the massive caceroleo (people banging pots and pans from their houses or apartments) last night in protest against insufficient government financial aid for the unemployed.
ReplyDeleteThis movement works through social media. It has no official meetings or leaders. Participants generally reject political parties, both on the right and on the left. It has little or no relation to the unions, to even those which still have some clout like the Teacher's Union. It seems that horizontal movements which function through social media are the wave of the future.
Very interesting. Do you suppose something like that could actually be organized in the United States through social media? What do other people think?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what can happen in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAs I said, this movement, which is huge, having mobilized at its height 2 million people in one day (Chile has a population of 18 million people), has no ties to political parties, and progressive politicians get booed when they dare to show up in one of the marches. People are just fed up with the system and they see all politicians are part of the system. The only banners which appear in the marches are banners of the Mapuche indigenous movement, which would be the equivalent of Black Lives Matter.
They work through affinity groups, friends, classmates, maybe workmates (but not through unions), etc. One thing that I left out is that feminist groups are also present and massive.
A very good question, Prof. Wolff. I would say we have such a movement in Black Lives Matter. But I'm afraid that movement may soon disappear as have so many other loose-knit, issue oriented movements of the past. What is lacking is an organized, ideological foundation that would hold it together. I would suggest a new political party, to the left of the Democratic Party, with a solid anti-capitalist ideology. As we have seen many times, capitalism is dependent on affluent, "good times" and when these pass, as pass they must, the fascist forces always present within capitalism, raise their ugly countenances. Capitalism is also dependent on oppression, so you must broaden the antiracist movement if we are ever to vanquish racism.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Wolff,
ReplyDeleteAs a labor relations professional (management-side) in California's public sector, I'd be interested to hear a little bit more about the "structural reasons" that have you led you to conclude that "it seems unlikely that labor unions of the old sort can again play the very large role that they once did in American politics."
My anecdotal experience is that the COVID-19 public health crisis and pandemic, combined with the economic fallout resulting from the COVID-19 public health crisis and pandemic and a growing cultural awareness of America's top-heavy income distribution, are all serving to empower labor unions and motivate employees towards levels of union activism that we haven't seen since the Union-busting Reagan years back in the 1980s.
In addition, at the state level in California at least, the legislature has taken an activist approach in supporting public sector labor unions by implementing additional protections for Unions immediately upon the US Supreme Court's adoption of the Janus decision that banned closed-shop and maintenance of membership articles in public sector labor agreements. The result has been that even without closed shop provisions or maintenance of membership articles, Union membership and has spiked rather than declined. And the Unions are advocating aggressively for social justice, in addition to better wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment for the members of their bargaining units.
Although we rarely see the sort of true leftist militancy in the public sector that still exists at places like the Ports where workers are represented by ILWU, from what I can tell there is a genuine moment of opportunity for the labor unions/activists to seize popular momentum around BLM and the Fed's newfound love for MMT to once again become a progressive or leftist political force for structural change in our society - although it will of course need to be one component of a broader political movement aimed at redefining the public's relationship with the owners of capital and government.
Thanks,
RI
What I would really love to see is a well-resourced left wing media organisation: a newspaper able to compete with the NYT and WaPo, and a cable news channel to compete even with Fox. Until we have this it seems to me electoral politics is hopeless for the left. Just look at what happened to Sanders. In the U.K. the case of Corbyn was even sadder, given the role the Guardian played. Maybe the surviving unions could fund this media initative instead of making campaign donations.
ReplyDeleteI’d also support direct action to occasionally hack the websites of mainstream news organisations to stealthily plant our side of the story when and where it matters.
The Industrial Revolution required colonial land and labor, sort of like it required metropolitan factories and an industrial proletariat. Heck, the colonies were again required as a market. The expropriated Aboriginal, enslaved African American or indentured Asian, the factory worker. A flâneur is an idler or lounger. Just, it's a word that I learned. And 'bureaucrat' is another word. 'Organizational structure', though, it seems like this would be 'hierarchical structure', except even more vaguely now.. if it's relevant, a flâneur is an idler or lounger.
ReplyDelete