Power has slowly concentrated around the world since the end of World War II. We haven’t suffered inequality at this level since the late Robber Baron/Gilded Age era of rampant monopolization. The rights that communities and unions fought for and won (sometimes literally against the US military) a hundred years ago have been eroded by those at the top rigging every system against us. In “No Shortcuts”, Jane McAlevey, a longtime community and union organizer, lays out answers. She briefly covers early unionizing in the US and how the Red Scare broke it, compares the competing models of organizing being practiced now, then walks through a few recent cases—what worked, what didn’t. It's great stuff, and shows how powerful we, the masses, are: how ordinary folks a hundred years ago won labor protections; why labor fights have failed so often since mid-century; and how people are winning fights again by doing “whole-worker organizing”—building community among the workers in a workplace, and engaging every community those people are a part of, religious and otherwise. There’s power in numbers, and when the whole community supports a strike (like Chicago did for the teachers strike in 2012—bus drivers, parents, black churches, etc.), we win. It can be done. It is being done. And it’s the only way forward if we want a strong, lasting democracy that we all have a say in. A better world is possible when we come together. I highly recommend this book, as well as the plethora of talks McAlevey’s given which are on YouTube
Here’s the book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/no-shortcuts-9780190624712
And here’s one of her excellent talks (of which there are many):