The radical middle class : populist democracy and the question of capitalism in progressive era Portland, Oregon / Robert D. Johnston.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnston, Robert D.

Series:

Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America

Politics and society in twentieth-century America

Politics and Society in Modern America ; 95

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Middle class--Oregon--Portland--History--20th century.

Middle class.

Small business--Oregon--Portland--History--20th century.

Small business.

Progressivism (United States politics).

Middle class--United States--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (421 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey ; Oxfordshire, England : Princeton University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

America has a long tradition of middle-class radicalism, albeit one that intellectual orthodoxy has tended to obscure. The Radical Middle Class seeks to uncover the democratic, populist, and even anticapitalist legacy of the middle class. By examining in particular the independent small business sector or petite bourgeoisie, using Progressive Era Portland, Oregon, as a case study, Robert Johnston shows that class still matters in America. But it matters only if the politics and culture of the leading player in affairs of class, the middle class, is dramatically reconceived. This book is a powerful combination of intellectual, business, labor, medical, and, above all, political history. Its author also humanizes the middle class by describing the lives of four small business owners: Harry Lane, Will Daly, William U'Ren, and Lora Little. Lane was Portland's reform mayor before becoming one of only six senators to vote against U.S. entry into World War I. Daly was Oregon's most prominent labor leader and a onetime Socialist. U'Ren was the national architect of the direct democracy movement. Little was a leading antivaccinationist. The Radical Middle Class further explores the Portland Ku Klux Klan and concludes with a national overview of the American middle class from the Progressive Era to the present. With its engaging narrative, conceptual richness, and daring argumentation, it will be welcomed by all who understand that reexamining the middle class can yield not only better scholarship but firmer grounds for democratic hope.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations and Maps

Preface

Acknowledgments

PART I. REHABILITATING THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS

CHAPTER ONE. Rethinking the Middle Class

CHAPTER TWO. Curt Muller and the Capitalist Middle Class Social Misconstructions Of Reality

CHAPTER THREE. Harry Lane and the Radicalism of Middle-Class Reform

PART II. The Populist Political Economy of Progressive Era Portland

CHAPTER FOUR. The Contours of Class in Portland

CHAPTER FIVE. Capitalism, Anticapitalism, and the Solidarity of Middle Class and Working Class

CHAPTER SIX. Petit Bourgeois Politics in Portland and World History

CHAPTER SEVEN. Will Daly

PART III. "The Most Complete Democracy in the World"

CHAPTER EIGHT. Direct Democracy as Antidemocracy?

CHAPTER NINE. Direct Democracy's Mechanic

CHAPTER TEN. From the Grand Reorganization to a Syndicalism of Housewives

CHAPTER ELEVEN. The Political Economy of Populist Democracy

PART IV. A Populism of the Body

CHAPTER TWELVE. A Deluded Mob of Ignorant Fools?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Shutting Down the Schools

CHAPTER FOURTEEN. From the Death of a Child to Sedition Against the State

CHAPTER FIFTEEN. Direct Democracy and Antivaccination

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. The Success and Radicalism of Antivaccination

PART V. The Uses of Populism after Progressivism

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. School Boards and Strikes

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. Liberal Populism

CHAPTER NINETEEN. Corporate Tools

CHAPTER TWENTY. The Producer's Call and the Portland Housewives' Council

PART VI. Conclusion

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. The Lower Middle Class in the American Century

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO. The Fate of Populism

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691096681

0691096686

9781400849529

1400849527

OCLC:

862048590