Publications

Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas

The official journal for the Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA).

As a site for both historical research and commentary, Labor hopes to provide a scaffolding for understanding the roots of our current dilemmas. Although the tradition from which the journal derives its energy has focused primarily on social movements and institutions based on industrial labor, Labor intends to give equal attention to other labor systems and social contexts (agricultural work, slavery, unpaid and domestic labor, informal sector, the professions, etc.). Its focus begins with the U.S. experience but also extends to developments across the “American” hemisphere and to other transnational comparisons that shed light on the American experience.

While the scholarly article and book review serve as the foundation of LABOR, the journal contains a number of sections designed to broaden its reach and purpose. The “Contemporary Affairs” section offers labor historians concerned with the search for “a usable past” a platform to address contemporary problems of workers and their unions. “Up for Debate” allows for a focused argument by several scholars on an important theme. “The Common Verse” displays a diversity of poems that give voice to American workers. And a recent new section “Whither Labor History?” analyzes the current state of labor history.