American exceptionalism?
Subtitle: US working-class formation in an international context
By: edited by Rick Halpern and Jonathan Morris.
Contributors: Halpern, Rick.; Morris, Jonathan, 1961-; Commonwealth Fund Conference (1995 : University College London)
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 325
Subjects: Working class -- United States -- History -- Congresses
Description: In this collection of essays, leading US and European historians utilise a comparative approach in an attempt to tease out the particular constellation of factors affecting working class formation and politics in the United States. Several pieces explore the resurgence of exceptionalist writing in recent years, and consider the ideological dimension of this tradition. Others reflect upon the considerable power of liberal politics to subsume working class initiatives.

The heavily Catholic composition of the US working class, and the role played by racial and ethnic divisions in restricting a vision of solidarity are also explored from a number of angles. Challenging particularist and nation-centred modes of explanation, these essays reinvigorate a tired debate.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
"This book arises out of the 1995 Commonwealth Fund Conference held at University College London and the series of roundtable discussions held by the seminar on Comparative Labour and Working Class History at London's Institute of Historical Research"--P. vii.