Person

Nelson Lichtenstein

Bylines

Related Excerpts

President Clinton walks with Jiang Zemin past rows of Chinese soldiers.

It’s the Global Economy, Stupid

A new book on the Clinton presidency reveals how it abandoned a progressive vision for a finance-led agenda for economics and geopolitics.
Cover of a book on President Bill Clinton's failures.

The Left Can’t Stop Wondering Where Bill Clinton Went Wrong. The Answer Explains a Lot.

Clinton’s role in decoupling the Democratic Party from mainstream labor, first in Arkansas and then nationally, had dire consequences.
Teachers on strike in a picket line.

State of the Unions

What happened to America’s labor movement?
Workers wave from the windows of a plant in Flint, Michigan, in 1937.

Organized Labor Took a Huge Step Forward When GM Workers Sat Down in Unison in 1937

Instead of picketing, striking autoworkers in Flint, Michigan, tried a bold tactic that gummed up the works and forced the company to recognize their union.
An illustration of unions protesting for livable wages and better working conditions

Looking Backward to Counter Mysticism and Despair

Postwar compromises weakened the left and ushered in bipartisan neoliberalism. But has neoliberalism lost its ability to navigate capitalism's contradictions?

Shawn Fain Is Channeling the Best of the UAW’s Past

The ongoing UAW strike is reminiscent of early UAW leader Walter Reuther — before the union and Reuther himself downsized their ambitions.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain shaking hands with union members.

Can the UAW Transform America Again?

By thinking big, Shawn Fain is summoning memories of Walter Reuther and the autoworkers’ union’s finest hour.
Photograph of protesters and text from a 1944 edition of "Are You An American?"

The Failure of a Public Philosophy

How Americans lost faith in the possibility of self-government.
Flint, Michigan sit-down strike.

The 1936 Sit-Down Strike That Shook the Auto Industry

Over 136,000 GM workers participated in the strike in Flint, Michigan that became known as 'the strike heard round the world.'