Communists and Community: Activism in Detroit's Labor Movement, 1941-1956

Description

Communists and Community seeks to reframe the traditional chronology of the Communist Party in the United States as a means to better understand the change that occurred in community activism in the mid-twentieth century. Ryan Pettengill argues that Popular Front activism continued to flourish throughout the war years and into the postwar period. In Detroit, where there was a critical mass of heavy industry, Communist Party activists mobilized support for civil rights and affordable housing, brought attention to police brutality, sought protection for the foreign-born, and led a movement for world peace. Communists and Community demonstrates that the Communist Party created a social space where activists became effective advocates for the socioeconomic betterment of a multiracial work force. Pettengill uses Detroit as a case study to examine how communist activists and their sympathizers maintained a community to enhance the quality of life for the city's working class. He investigates the long-term effects of organized labor's decision to force communists out of the unions and abandon community-based activism. Communists and Community recounts how leftists helped workers, people of color, and other under-represented groups became part of the mainstream citizenry in America. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Popular Front Activism and the Communist Cooperative 2. World War, a Community Crisis, and the Communist Cooperative 3. The Roots of Postwar Anticommunism, 1944–1945 4. Community Activism and the Emergence of Postwar Detroit, 1945–1949 5. Anticommunism and the Transition of Labor Activism, 1945–1949 6. Community Activism in the Age of McCarthy, 1950–1956 7. Anticommunism, Local Politics, and the Demise of Community Activism Conclusion: Community Activism and the Labor Movement Notes Bibliography Index