On Lichtenstein’s Biography of Walter Reuther

Against the Current, No. 67, March/April 1997

NELSON LICHTENSTEIN’S BIOGRAPHY of Walter Reuther was reviewed by Jane Slaughter in ATC 64 (September-October 1996), focusing on the roots of 1990s-style “labor-management cooperation” in Reuther’s leadership of the United Auto Workers. (A brief comment by Martin Glaberman also appeared in ATC 66.)

In view of the significance of this book, both as a historical analysis of Reuther and as an intervention in today’s debates on the future of the U.S. labor movement-we felt its treatment of specific historical periods also warranted attention. Michael Goldfield, a labor historian and a former UAW member at the International Harvester plant in suburban Chicago; specializes in issues of racism and U.S. labor. His latest book, The Color of Politics (New Press), discusses issues of race, labor, and radicalism in the United States. It will be published this spring.

ATC 67, March-April 1997