Public Workers in Service of America

A Reader

Frederick W. Gooding Jr., Eric S. Yellin, Joseph A. McCartin , Eileen Boris

$247

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

University of Illinois Press
15 August 2023

History of the Americas; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Social classes; Industrial relations & safety

Series: Working Class in American History

From white-collar executives to mail carriers, public workers meet the needs of the entire nation. Frederick W. Gooding Jr. and Eric S. Yellin edit a collection of new research on this understudied workforce. Part One begins in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth century to explore how questions of race, class, and gender shaped public workers, their workplaces, and their place in American democracy. In Part Two, essayists examine race and gender discrimination while revealing the subtle contemporary forms of marginalization that keep Black men and Black and white women underpaid and overlooked for promotion. The historic labor actions detailed in Part Three illuminate how city employees organized not only for better pay and working conditions but to seek recognition from city officials, the public, and the national labor movement. Part Four focuses on nurses and teachers to address the thorny question of whether certain groups deserve premium pay for their irreplaceable work and sacrifices or if serving the greater good is a reward unto itself.

Contributors: Eileen Boris, Cathleen D. Cahill, Frederick W. Gooding Jr., William P. Jones, Francis Ryan, Jon Shelton, Joseph E. Slater, Katherine Turk, Eric S. Yellin, and Amy Zanoni

Afterword by: Eileen Boris
Foreword by: Joseph A. McCartin
Contributions by: Cathleen D Cahill
Edited by: Frederick W. Gooding Jr., Eric S. Yellin
Imprint: University of Illinois Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 28mm
ISBN: 9780252045172
ISBN 10: 0252045173
Series: Working Class in American History
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 15 August 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Foreword Joseph A. McCartin Acknowledgments A Note on Language Introduction Frederick W. Gooding Jr. and Eric S. Yellin Part I: The Politics of Public Work at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century 1 Gender and Politics among Federal Indian Service Employees, 1880-1930 Cathleen D. Cahill 2 The Spoils as Reparations Eric S. Yellin Part II: Good Government Jobs for Whom? 3 Dead End Job? Black Public Workers Struggle to See Light of Day Frederick W. Gooding Jr. 4 “We’re the Backbone of this City”: Women and Gender in Public Work Katherine Turk Part III: Organizing Public Workers 5 Police Unions and Public-Sector Labor Law and Policy Joseph E. Slater 6 The Road to Memphis: Southern Sanitation Workers and the Transformation of Public Employee Unionism in the Postwar United States William P. Jones 7 “They Won’t Work for a Cop of Any Kind”: The 1970 Sanitation Slowdown and the Struggle for Black Independent Politics in Philadelphia Francis Ryan Part IV: Public Workers in the Neoliberal Age 8 Sick Ins, Feed Ins, Heal Ins, and Strikes: Labor Organizing at Chicago’s Public Hospital in the 1960s and Its Legacy for the 1970s Amy Zanoni 9 The Meaning of Teachers’ Labor in American Education: Change, Challenge, and Resistance Jon Shelton Afterword Eileen Boris Contributors Index

Frederick W. Gooding Jr. holds the Dr. Ronald E. Moore Professorship in Humanities in the John V. Roach Honors College and is an associate professor of African American studies at Texas Christian University. He is the author of American Dream Deferred: Black Federal Workers in Washington, D.C., 1941–1981. Eric S. Yellin is an associate professor of history and American studies at the University of Richmond. He is the author of Racism in the Nation's Service: Government Workers and the Color Line in Woodrow Wilson’s America.

Reviews for Public Workers in Service of America: A Reader

“Public Workers in Service of America is a fascinating and consequential history of public sector-work that demonstrates how public employees from diverse backgrounds have fought to define their rights over time and in a wide variety of occupations. It contributes to an essential conversation about the need for a robust and inclusive public workforce in a nation that often uncritically embraces the private sector.”--Margaret C. Rung, author of Servants of the State: Managing Diversity and Democracy in the Federal Workforce, 1933–1953