> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
> Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 1999 11:09 AM
>
> Nathan Newman wrote:
>
> >In a sense, and contrary to intuition, you can see how starkly class
> >conscious American economic law is.
>
> Why is this contrary to intuition? The U.S. ruling class is extremely
> well-organized and class conscious, not only on a national scale, but
> internationally. Is there any other ruling class that's as
> well-organized, class conscious, and so largely unchallenged?
Of course, and I should have said, contrary to conventional wisdom.
But there is also a strong part of the system that is class-conscious from the labor side, where workers in the US for extremely class-conscious reasons rejected involvement in corporate goverance as a pitfall for class sell-out and class collaboration- all the contemporary talk of labor-management partnership to the contrary.
Depite the "American Exceptionalism" arguement that portray US workers as less socialist-minded or class conscious than European workers, there is a rather militant strain in the US that dismissed the "co-determination" of Europe and company unionism of Japan as a sell-out of class principles. It was only when US workers got their asses handed to them in the 1970s while benefits seemed to hold on in Europe and Japan that the American version of labor relations was so denigrated.
There is a tough strain of US unionism that, partly derived from the Wobbly strain, sees even a contract with a no-strike clause as far too close a relationship with management for comfort. This strain was reflected in the Wagner Act, even if its practice was heavily gutted by Taft-Hartley in 1947 and by rather creative judicial interpretations that turned union contracts into binding agreements under law.
What I find interesting is the interplay of these two class conscious legal traditions, labor law and corporate law, playing out in completely separate and largely incompatible legal venues. And as they mix in these corporate campaigns, long suppressed class contradictions of our legal and economic system are coming to the fore. It is, in historical terms, an important "critical juncture" and how we mobilize to win out in the ensuing battle will make a large difference for the future.
-- Nathan Newman