From the end of the nineteenth century through the first decades of the
twentieth, the United States experienced unprecedented structural
change. Advances in communication and manufacturing technology brought
about a revolution for major industries such as railroads, coal, and
steel. The still-growing nation established economic, political, and
cultural entanglements with forces overseas. Local strikes in
manufacturing, urban transit, and construction placed labor issues front
and center in political campaigns, legislative corridors, church
pulpits, and newspapers of the era.
The Long Gilded Age considers the interlocking roles of politics,
labor, and internationalism in the ideologies and institutions that
emerged at the turn of the twentieth century. Presenting a new twist on
central themes of American labor and working-class history, Leon Fink
examines how the American conceptualization of free labor played out in
iconic industrial strikes, and how "freedom" in the workplace became
overwhelmingly tilted toward individual property rights at the expense
of larger community standards. He investigates the legal and
intellectual centers of progressive thought, situating American policy
actions within an international context. In particular, he traces the
development of American socialism, which appealed to a young generation
by virtue of its very un-American roots and influences.
The Long Gilded Age offers both a transnational and comparative look
at a formative era in American political development, placing this
tumultuous period within a worldwide confrontation between the
capitalist marketplace and social transformation.
