The 250-Year Decline of American Exceptionalism
American exceptionalism has always had an absurd and self-serving character to it. But any pretense justifying it has collapsed in the face of Donald Trump’s cruelty and oligarchic corruption.
24 Article(s) by: Nelson Lichtenstein
Nelson Lichtenstein is a research professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His most recent book is A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism.
The UAW’s Reform Process Is Being Put to the Test
When Shawn Fain was elected UAW president in 2023, hopes were high that he could reshape America’s most important industrial union. His successes have been undeniable, but they haven’t come without internal conflicts.
Sven Beckert’s Chronicle of Capitalism’s Long Rise
Capitalism is a global economic system, so a proper chronicle of its rise to dominance has to examine the entire world, as historian Sven Beckert does in his massive new book, Capitalism: A Global History.
The Marxism of Mike Davis
Historian Nelson Lichtenstein on the life, influences, and “sophisticated yet lucid brand of Marxism” of the late, great writer Mike Davis.
Unionizing the “Cultural Apparatus”
Don’t mourn the professional-managerial class — organize it.
The Left Needs Its “Schools of Enlightenment and Revolution”
Throughout the entire history of left-wing and working-class organizing in the United States, the participation in and building of institutions of political education has been key.
There Is No Such Thing as Spontaneous Worker Organizing
The 1930s saw the biggest labor upsurge in US history. Just like today, there was economic discontent and a general pro-labor atmosphere. But labor didn’t just passively benefit. Instead, it saw its opportunity to act, building unions for the long haul.
The UAW and the Bombers
A new UAW T-shirt rightly touts the working class as the “arsenal of democracy” — but it includes a B-24 bomber. Here’s labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein on what he thinks is wrong with the appeal.
UAW Strikers Have Scored a Historic, Transformative Victory
With its successful strike, the UAW has broken with decades of concessions, won on pay and workplace democracy, and launched a new national labor leader. There’s much more organizing to be done, but this is an unmitigated victory for the entire working class.
The UAW Strike Could Spark a Broader Revival of Working-Class Militancy
With its ongoing strike against the Big Three, the UAW is attempting to recapture the fighting spirit of its heroic early days. The union’s militant approach marks a sharp break with the recent past — and could spark more insurgency across the labor movement.
The United Auto Workers Strike Is Already Shaking Up the Presidential Race
The UAW strike has rocketed into the presidential race, with Trump announcing a speech to autoworkers and the union trying to use Biden’s electric vehicle subsidies to open the sector to unionization. The strike's result will have major political implications.
Hollywood Writers and Actors Are Striking to Make Globalization Work for Them
Globalization has upended film and TV, creating more jobs, but ones that are worse-paid and more precarious. Like UPS Teamsters did with their strike threat, striking Hollywood workers are seeking to make their industry's global reach work for them.
Nelson Lichtenstein on a Half-Century of American Class Struggle
Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein reflects on his long life and career, including Berkeley in the 1960s, Walter Reuther and the early UAW, Walmart, Bill Clinton, and much more.
The Railway Labor Act Allowed Congress to Break the Rail Strike. We Should Get Rid of It.
Congress was able to break the rail strike last week because of a century-old law designed to weaken the disruptive power of unions. It’s time to cast aside this law and every other government-mandated strike prohibition that ties the hands of workers.
The Radical Imagination of Mike Davis
There was nothing mechanical or deterministic about the Marxism of Mike Davis, writes labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein.
Black and White Workers and Communists Built a “Civil Rights Unionism” Under Jim Crow
Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein on why today’s union activists should look to the example of North Carolina black and white tobacco workers, who organized a union and went on strike in the teeth of the Jim Crow South.
Starbucks Workers Are Demanding Management Stop Acting Like Petty Dictators
The massive Starbucks unionization drive is about striking a blow against the authoritarian power of management.
Not All Labor Law Reforms Are Created Equal
Two major pieces of labor law legislation, both rooted in the concept of “sectoral bargaining,” are now being weighed in California and New York. California’s would represent a genuine advance for low-wage workers; New York’s would be a disaster.
John Sweeney (1934–2021)
John Sweeney, who won the AFL-CIO presidency in 1995 as part of a progressive reform leadership slate called New Voice, died earlier this month at the age of eighty-six. He failed in his quest to revive the US labor movement — but he succeeded in pushing the main body of trade unionism firmly to the left.
The Door Has Been Opened to a More Democratic UAW
The United Auto Workers has fallen far from its postwar glory as the most important union in America. Flagrant leadership corruption has made things worse. But a recent settlement with the Justice Department opens up the possibility of democratizing the union, writes labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein.