Counter-Organizing the Sunbelt: Right-to-Work Campaigns and Anti-Union Conservatism, 1943–1958

Right-to-work elections are one of the most understudied aspects in the formation of Sunbelt conservatism and the rise of the Right. After World War II, every Southwestern state put some kind of right-to-work referendum on the ballot. Support came from the most dynamic economic sectors whose anti-un...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pacific historical review 2009-02, Vol.78 (1), p.81-118
Main Author: Shermer, Elizabeth Tandy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-communism
Business
Campaigns
Conservatism
Discourses
Economic sectors
Elections
Employment
Historians
Ideology
Labor
Labor movements
Labor unionization
Labor unions
Labour relations
Legitimacy
Middle class
New Deal
Political activism
Political campaigns
Political conditions
Political ideology
Post-war history
Power
Prosperity
Race
Referendums
Right to work
Right to work law
Trade unions
U.S.A
Voters
World War II
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Summary:Right-to-work elections are one of the most understudied aspects in the formation of Sunbelt conservatism and the rise of the Right. After World War II, every Southwestern state put some kind of right-to-work referendum on the ballot. Support came from the most dynamic economic sectors whose anti-union activists stood in rebellion against the New Deal regulatory state. They promised prosperity based on laissez-faire growth to transform the region into a manufacturing power. Although not every proposition or bill passed, this ideological argument won over many voters, including members of the middle and working classes worried over labor's rapid growth and new-found power. The discourses in these early campaigns came to dominate national conversations about labor's power and legitimacy, suggesting that a pro-development anti-unionism was a pillar of western Sunbelt conservatism and the modern Right.
ISSN:0030-8684
1533-8584
DOI:10.1525/phr.2009.78.1.81