Colliers Across the Sea: A Comparative Study of Class Formation in Scotland and the American Midwest, 1830-1924

John H. M. Laslett

University of Illinois Press, 2000 - Business & Economics - 314 pages

"This masterful study charts the extensive common ground and telling differences between two widely separated coal-mining communities: Lanarkshire, In the Clyde Valley of southwest Scotland, And The northern Illinois coalfield that became a prime destination for skilled Scottish migrant miners in the mid-nineteenth century. Challenging the prevailing exceptionalist paradigm of labor history, John Laslett examines the social, economic, and political context of each of these communities in generous detail. He traces the progressive heightening of class consciousness as the coal industry evolved from skilled hand labor to an increasingly mechanized extraction process And The escalating hostility between miners and mineowners as their interests split along class lines. Examining the rise of militant industrial unionism in both areas, Laslett provides a sophisticated explanation of the American and Scottish miners' divergent approaches to collectivist solutions. Based on a profound knowledge of both communities,Colliers across the Seatells a compelling story of industrial transformation's human costs, Of conflict and greed, and of democratic aspirations and community. "

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Review: Colliers across the Sea: A Comparative Study of Class Formation in Scotland and the American Midwest, 1830-1924

User Review  - Matt - Goodreads

Miners' unions are another possible comparison for dissertation research, so I'm reading this book for that reason. This book is written by a historian and therefore has more of narrative feel, which ...

Contents

• Class Formation among Colliers in Southwest Scotland 183070: 13
• Conflict and Accommodation in Lanarkshire 183064: 37
• British Colliers Migrate to Northern: 59
• Growth of Class Hostilities in Scotland and the American: 75
• New Technology New Immigrants and Growing Class: 125
• The Emergence of Mass Unionism and the Parting of the Political: 149
• Moving in Tandem to the Left? Socialism and: 173
• World War I Labour Party Triumph: 196
• Comparative Class Formation and the Colliers: 222
• Notes: 235
• Bibliography of Primary Sources: 279
• Index: 297

About the author

Laslett is a professor of history at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Colliers Across the Sea: A Comparative Study of Class Formation in Scotland and the American Midwest, 1830-1924; The Working Class in American History
• Author: John H. M. Laslett
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2000
• ISBN: 0252068270, 9780252068270
• Length: 314 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Labor; History / United States / General; Political Science / Labor & Industrial Relations; Social Science / Minority Studies; Technology & Engineering / Mining