Life and Labor in the New New South

"Zieger has done it again! In this volume, he has put his finger on the pulse of the most exciting current work in the field. Anyone who doubts that the South is still a distinctive region, or who thinks that 'southern labor' has become an oxymoron, will be chastened by the scholarship in this compelling collection."--Alex Lichtenstein, Florida International University This collection of essays explores the dynamic new face of Southern labor since 1950. Life and Labor in the New New Southweaves together the best work of established scholars with emerging cutting-edge research on ethnicity, gender, prison labor, de-industrialization, rapidly changing demographic and employment patterns, and popular response to globalization. Contributors include Jane Berger, Michael Bess, Robert Bussel, Robert Chase, David Ciscel, Michael Dennis, Tami Friedman, Michael Honey, Max Krochmal, Timothy Minchin, Bruce Nissen, and Michael Pierce. The essays examine such topics as southern deindustrialization, union activism in the healthcare industry, labor-community coalitions, the politics of southern anti-unionism, and immigrant labor in southern agriculture. One chapter uses a dual biography of two postwar Mexican-American activists in Texas to reconstruct the Chicano-Black coalitions in 1960s Dallas and San Antonio. The volume as a whole creates a distinguished profile of a southern workforce that has been dramatically transformed since 1950, with the pace of change accelerating over the past two decades.

Robert H. Zieger, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Florida, is the editor of two previous collections of essays on southern labor history and has twice been recipient of the Philip A. Taft Prize for the best book in labor history. His most recent book. For Jobs and Freedom: Race and Labor in America since 1865, was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.