For the past few decades, the labor movement has fluttered precariously at the intersection of revitalization or ruin — most often leaning towards the latter.

As their membership and resources have continued to dwindle, unions are trying to figure out how best to respond to the current moment. With a Trump inauguration fast approaching and the Republicans taking control of the Supreme Court, the United States Congress, a majority of governorships, and over two-thirds of state legislatures, this choice has become even more urgent than it already was.

Some “innovative labor leaders” called for labor to retreat from battle this year. They claimed that “striking is a bad bet” and that unions should be looking to the entrepreneurial ethos of Silicon Valley and the wisdom of the professional-managerial class for answers — in the form of labor “incubators.” This is an approach that speaks the language of business schools, appeals to the sensibilities of program officers at foundations, and wins nodding approval from academics.