Making the World Safe for Workers: Labor, the Left, and Wilsonian Internationalism

Description

In this intellectually ambitious study, Elizabeth McKillen explores the significance of Wilsonian internationalism for workers and the influence of American labor in both shaping and undermining the foreign policies and war mobilization efforts of Woodrow Wilson's administration. McKillen highlights the major fault lines and conflicts that emerged within labor circles as Wilson pursued his agenda in the context of Mexican and European revolutions, World War I, and the Versailles Peace Conference. As McKillen shows, the choice to collaborate with or resist U.S. foreign policy remained an important one for labor throughout the twentieth century. In fact, it continues to resonate today in debates over the global economy, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the impact of U.S. policies on workers at home and abroad. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Mexico and the Western Hemisphere Chapter 1: The Mexican Revolution as Catalyst Part II: World War I and the U.S. Labor Debate over Neutrality and Preparedness Chapter 2: The Outbreak of World War I and the Socialist "War on War" Chapter 3: Antiwar Cultures of the AFL, the Debate over Preparedness, and the Gompers Turnabout Part III: U.S. Belligerency Chapter 4: Dialectical Relationships Chapter 5: The AFL, International Labor Politics, and Labor Dissent in 1918 Part IV: Versailles and Its Aftermath Chapter 6: Making the World Safe for Workers? Chapter 7: U.S. Labor Irreconcilables and Reservationists and the Founding ILO Conference in Washing Conclusion Notes Abbreviations and Primary Sources Index