Redesigning Power

“We of the labor hosts have conned that word over till our minds are all a-tingle with it. Power. It is a kingly word.”

- Jack London

For much of the world’s population, the birth of the free market has accomplished little more than ushering in two centuries of volatile and unpredictable market systems. Throughout the 19th and 20th century, societies undergoing the transition into a capitalist economic order have tended to be riddled with a chaotic variability. The free market, with its rote cycles of boom and bust, defy prediction and stability. Yet, its contradictions have remained consistent: the owners of capital, or economic power, as a class, tends to get smaller while the working class tends to get larger and increasingly disenfranchised.

Yet, there is hope within this increasingly acute duality. The dichotomy between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots,’ has led to the birth of a labor regime nearly as old as the vast institutions of capital. Indeed, the history of labor is the veritable history of capitalism. With the ebbs and flows of movements for social and economic justice, we have also seen its paired opposite, the ebbs and flows of the richest and most powerful individuals.

After the great labor struggles of the 20th century, western economies arrived at what has been termed “the accord.” This silent relationship between the forces of capital and the movement for labor resulted in the birth of a middle class, historic levels of equality, and an end to the mythos of the fighting union and the militant strike.

However, this delicate balance between capital and labor which has historically been in favor of capital yet tolerant of the demands of labor is now under attack. In particular, an increasingly hostile trend of vulgar libertarianism tending to reject all attempts at marketplace regulation and reform has pushed both the political and economic establishments of much of the west toward the right. Unions are now seeing historically low membership. In lieu of a connectedness to the struggles of the past, much of the labor establishment has lost touch with its greatest imperative: organizing the power of the worker. In past generations, this was simply a fact of life.

Nevertheless, the contemporary problems of labor extend even beyond the capitalist economic order. With the dawn of the New Economy, much of what remains of the old labor establishments have begun to lose their stride. An alarming cultural and age gap has grown amongst the working class. While a generation which once carried the torch of labor approaches retirement, a new, younger generation of laborers entering a broken economy has been left disoriented and disorganized. The benefits of labor reforms once considered commonplace, such as pensions, a living wage, and solid representation, now scarcely exists for the vast majority of the working class. When one looks upon these conundrums, the conclusion is clear: we must re-envision the power of labor.

The labor regime of the new economy must be rugged enough to outlast the 21st century. This task will require institutions that are both strong, yet flexible. They must operate both horizontally and democratically, but be able to command great organizational power, all with a base of resources and highly mobilized rank and file.

Hands On Organizing is a journal of contemporary labor authored by two young organizers, Tyler Crawford and Patrick T. Shepherd. We wish to see this become a sandbox for new approaches to building power. Concurrently, we seek innovative approaches to worker self-management under the new economy, and set ourselves toward this ambitious end. The possibility of an egalitarian society rests on the challenge of building a new labor movement, the fundamental task of the modern working class.