Seeking Discussant for Wartime Strikes

[stille...@gmail.com]

We have a panel with 5 papers on wartime strikes that needs a discussant:

Labor radicalism often explodes after major wars, when returning soldiers expand the labor market, the economy slows down, and workers are tired of wartime sacrifice.  But militancy is present during wars as well, when labor markets tighten, profits rise, and the state appeals to shared sacrifice.  At first glance, wartime militancy appears to lead into postwar radicalism, but the conditions are quite different.  How should we understand wartime militancy?  How do tightening labor markets, shifting demographics in labor markets, dominant ideologies of war mobilization, and state interests in production affect the actions and strategies of rank and file workers and labor movements?  How are various forms of worker solidarity enabled or foreclosed?  We explore these issues with examinations of specific cases from WWI and WWII, in Kansas City, Akron, Montana, Quebec, Glasgow and Paris. 

Cheers,

Jeff Stilley

PhD Candidate

University of Missouri