The Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney
invites you to attend a seminar presented by
Robin Archer
London School of Economics and Political Science
on his forthcoming publication:
WHY IS THERE NO LABOR PARTY IN THE UNITED STATES?
| Date: | Wednesday 23rd April 2008 |
| Time: | 12.00pm-1.30pm |
| Venue: | Merewether Building H04, Room 397 The University of Sydney |
A light lunch will be provided. If you are planning to attend, for catering purposes could you please RSVP to blhg@econ.usyd.edu.au before close of business on Monday 21st April.
Robin Archer is currently director of the postgraduate program in political sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He grew up in Sydney and studied physics, maths and philosophy at Sydney University. His involvement in the Australian labour movement drew him into the study of politics. Robin has taught political sociology, comparative government and political theory for over a decade at Oxford University where he was the Fellow in Politics at Corpus Christi College. Robin Archer’s earlier works include Out of Apathy (Verso, 1987) and Economic Democracy (Oxford University Press, 1995.) He will be in Australia throughout April presenting seminars concerning his book, "Why is There No Labour Party in the United States?" – more details below.
Why is the United States the only advanced capitalist country with no labor party? This is one of the enduring puzzles of American political development and it lies at the heart of a fundamental debate about the nature of American politics and society. Conventional explanations rely on comparison with Europe. Robin Archer's book, WHY IS THERE NO LABOR PARTY IN THE UNITED STATES?, challenges these accepted methods, not by comparing the New World with the Old, but rather by offering a comparison of one New World country with another.
Systematic comparison of the United States and Australia makes it possible to do this to maximum effect. This comparison is particularly appealing, not only because these countries shared many underlying characteristics, but also because Australian unions established a party in the late 19th century, just when American unions, against a common backdrop of industrial defeat and depression, came closest to doing something similar.
The book turns much of the conventional wisdom about American exceptionalism on its head. It shows that prosperity, democracy, liberalism and racial hostility all had effects that are very different from those that are usually attributed to them, and it points to the powerful but often overlooked impact of repression, religion and sectarianism. WHY IS THERE NO LABOR PARTY IN THE UNITED STATES? is published in the series Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives edited by Ira Katznelson, Martin Shefter, and Theda Skocpol.
"The most comprehensive, acute, and original exploration of 'American exceptionalism' to appear in many years. Archer boldly and rigorously argues that repression, religion, and socialist sectarianism shaped the politics of American labor far more than did the usual suspects—affluence, liberalism, democracy, and racial divides…Provocative and important."
—Gary Gerstle, Vanderbilt University
"This is a profound and searching study based on primary research that applies an entirely new perspective to the intriguing absence of an American labor party. Archer employs a comparative historical method with great ingenuity—matching up the United States with a 'most similar' case, that of Australia….A must for historians, sociologists, and political theorists."
—Michael Freeden, University of Oxford
"A splendid demonstration of the power of comparative history. Closely reasoned and extensively researched, it turns some of the oldest and most influential clichés about American politics on their head."
—Daniel Rodgers, Princeton University
"Why Is There No Labor Party in the United States" (published by Princeton University Press in February, 2008 ISBN 9780691127019 Hardback* 54.95) is distributed in Australia by Footprint Books.
Please contact Lara Wallace for review copies or to interview the author.