(Now an established classic, Intellectual Origins of Ameri...)
Now an established classic, Intellectual Origins of American Radicalism was the first book to explore this alternative current of American political thought. Stemming back to the seventeenth-century English Revolution, many questioned private property, the sovereignty of the nation-state, and slavery, and affirmed the common man's ability to govern. By the time of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine was the great exemplar of the alternative intellectual tradition. In the nineteenth century, the antislavery movement took hold of Thomas Paine's ideas and fashioned them into an ideology that ultimately justified civil war. This updated edition contains a new preface by the author, which describes the inquiries that he undertook in his books of the 1960s and their conclusions. David Waldstreicher has contributed a new historiographical essay that discusses the book's lasting importance and contrasts its ideas with the work of Bernard Bailyn and Gordon Wood.
Solidarity Unionism: Rebuilding the Labor Movement from Below
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Critical reading for all who care about the future of l...)
Critical reading for all who care about the future of labor, Solidarity Unionism draws deeply on Staughton Lynds experiences as a labor lawyer and activist in Youngstown, Ohio, and on his profound understanding of the history of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The book helps us begin to put not only movement, but also vision, back into the labor movement. There is a blossoming of rank-and-file worker organizations throughout the world that are countering rapacious capitalists and labor leaders who think they know more about work and struggle than their own members. To secure the gains of solidarity unions, Lynd has proposed parallel bodies of workers who share the principles of rank-and-file solidarity and can coordinate the activities of local workers assemblies. Detailed and inspiring examples include experiments in workers self-organization across industries in steel-producing Youngstown, as well as horizontal networks of solidarity formed in a variety of U.S. cities and successful direct actions overseas. This book is not a prescription but reveals the lived experience of working people continuously taking risks for the common good.
Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History, revised edition
(Nonviolence in America is a comprehensive compilation of ...)
Nonviolence in America is a comprehensive compilation of first-hand sources that document the history of nonviolence in the United States from colonial times to the present. Editors Staughton and Alice Lynd bring together materials from diverse sources that illuminate a movement in American history that is sometimes assumed to have begun and ended with the anti-nuclear and civil rights struggles of the '50s and '60s but which is, in fact, older than the Republic itself.
This revised and expanded edition of Nonviolence in America opens with writings of William Penn and John Woolman, of abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Henry David Thoreau, and of anarchists Emma Goldman and William Haywood. It continues with testimonies of suffragettes and conscientious objectors of both World Wars, trade unionists and anti-nuclear activists. It includes classics such as Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," William James's "The Moral Equivalent of War," and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham City Jail." Bringing Nonviolence in America right up to the present are writings on the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, and the continuing struggles against nuclear power plants and weaponry and for preservation of the Earth and its peoples.
New Forms of Worker Organization: The Syndicalist and Autonomist Restoration of Class-Struggle Unionism
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As bureaucratic labor unions are currently under assaul...)
As bureaucratic labor unions are currently under assault throughout the world, most have surrendered the achievements of the mid-20th century, when the working class was a militant force for change. As unions implode and weaken, workers are independently forming their own unions, rooted in the tradition of syndicalism and autonomism—and unions rooted in the tradition of self-directed action are auguring a new period of class struggle throughout the world. In Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, workers are rejecting leaders and forming authentic class-struggle unions rooted in sabotage, direct action, and striking to achieve concrete gains. This is the first book to compile workers struggles on a global basis, examining the formation and expansion of radical unions in the Global South and Global North. The tangible evidence marshaled in this book serves as a handbook for understanding the formidable obstacles and concrete opportunities for workers challenging neoliberal capitalism, even as the unions of the old decline and disappear. Contributors include Au Loong-Yu, Bai Ruixue, Arup K. Sen, Shawn Hattingh, Piotr Bizyukov and Irina Olimpieva, Genese M. Sodikoff, Aviva Chomsky, Dario Bursztyn, Gabriel Kuhn, Erik Forman, Steven Manicastri, and Jack Kirkpatrick.
Class Conflict, Slavery, and the United States Constitution
(First published in 1967, Class Conflict, Slavery, and the...)
First published in 1967, Class Conflict, Slavery, and the United States Constitution was among the first studies to identify the importance of slavery to the founding of the American Republic. Provocative and powerful, this book offers explanations for the movements and motivations that underpinned the Revolution and the Early Republic. First, Staughton Lynd analyzes what motivated farm tenants and artisans during the period of the American Revolution. Second, he argues that slavery, and a willingness to compromise with slavery, were at the center of all political arrangements by the patriot leadership, including the United States Constitution. Third, he maintains that the historiography of the United States has adopted the mistaken perspective of Thomas Jefferson, who held that southern plantation owners were merely victimized agrarians. This new edition reproduces the original Preface by Edward P. Thompson and includes a new essay by Robin Einhorn that examines Lynd's arguments in the context of forty years of subsequent scholarship.
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This collection of unpublished talks and hard-to-find e...)
This collection of unpublished talks and hard-to-find essays from legendary activist-historian Staughton Lynd blends themes that encourage the rejection of capitalist imperialism, while also seeking a transition to a newly organized world. The dynamic collection provides reminiscence and analysis of the 1960s and a vision of how historians might immerse themselves in popular movements while maintaining their obligation to tell the truth. A final group of presentations, entitled Possibilities,” explores nonviolence, resistance to empire as a way of life, and what a working-class self-activity might mean in the 21st century.
Doing History from the Bottom Up: On E.P. Thompson, Howard Zinn, and Rebuilding the Labor Movement from Below
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In the 1960s historians on both sides of the Atlantic b...)
In the 1960s historians on both sides of the Atlantic began to challenge the assumptions of their colleagues and push for an understanding of history "from below." In this collection, Staughton Lynd, himself one of the pioneers of this approach, laments the passing of fellow luminaries David Montgomery, E.P. Thompson, Alfred Young, and Howard Zinn, and makes the case that contemporary academics and activists alike should take more seriously the stories and perspectives of Native Americans, slaves, rank-and-file workers, and other still-too-frequently marginalized voices.
Staughton Lynd is an American conscientious objector, Quaker, peace activist and civil rights activist, tax resister, historian, professor, author, and lawyer.
Wobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History
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Wobblies and Zapatistas offers the reader an encounter ...)
Wobblies and Zapatistas offers the reader an encounter between two generations and two traditions. Andrej Grubacic is an anarchist from the Balkans. Staughton Lynd is a lifelong pacifist, influenced by Marxism. They meet in dialogue in an effort to bring together the anarchist and Marxist traditions, to discuss the writing of history by those who make it, and to remind us of the idea that "my country is the world." Encompassing a Left libertarian perspective and an emphatically activist standpoint, these conversations are meant to be read in the clubs and affinity groups of the new Movement.
The authors accompany us on a journey through modern revolutions, direct actions, anti-globalist counter summits, Freedom Schools, Zapatista cooperatives, Haymarket and Petrograd, Hanoi and Belgrade, "intentional" communities, wildcat strikes, early Protestant communities, Native American democratic practices, the Workers' Solidarity Club of Youngstown, occupied factories, self-organized councils and soviets, the lives of forgotten revolutionaries, Quaker meetings, antiwar movements, and prison rebellions. Neglected and forgotten moments of interracial self-activity are brought to light. The book invites the attention of readers who believe that a better world, on the other side of capitalism and state bureaucracy, may indeed be possible.
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In telling the story of one of the longest prison upris...)
In telling the story of one of the longest prison uprisings in U.S. history, in which hundreds of inmates seized a major area of an Ohio correctional facility, this chronicle examines the causes of the disturbance, what happened during its 11-day duration, and the fairness of the trials in the aftermath of the rioting. Recounted from the prisoners side and viewed through a lawyers and an activist's lens, this exposé sheds light on the horrific and inhumane prison conditions, the rebellion and killing of 10 people, the drivers of the negotiated surrender, and the trial that was filled with misrepresentations and evasions on the part of those running the prison. The eloquent new foreword from the renowned political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal underlines the theme of the interracial character of the uprising and the basic desire of the prisoners to be recognized as men. A detailed view on a major prison uprising, this new edition will appeal to legal scholars, history buffs, prisoner and human rights activists, and family members of incarcerated individuals alike.
Living Inside Our Hope: A Steadfast Radical's Thoughts on Rebuilding the Movement (ILR Press Books)
(The photograph of three men spattered with red paint, the...)
The photograph of three men spattered with red paint, their arms linked, marching to protest the Vietnam War, is an icon of the 1960s movement for social justice. David Dellinger is on one side, Robert Moses on the other. In the middle is Staughton Lynd, chairperson of the first march on Washington against the war, and former director of the Mississippi Freedom Schools.Thirty years later, Staughton Lynd here reaffirms ideas central to the New Left of the sixties: nonviolence, participatory democracy, an experiential approach to education, and anti-capitalism. In essays written between 1970 and 1995, he passionately defends the intellectual contribution of a movement often dismissed as mindlessly activist. In addition, he advocates direct, sustained involvement in meeting the needs of the working class and the poor.Each section of the book identifies major influences on Lynd's life as teacher, historian, lawyer, and organizer. In the section entitled "Accompaniment", Lynd suggests the relevance to the United States of the concepts of liberation theology which have revolutionized Central America. In "Socialism with a Human Face", he expresses continued allegiance to the socialist ideals exemplified by Simone Weft and E. P. Thompson. The final section, "Solidarity Unionism", deals with the self-activity of rank-and-file workers.Living Inside Our Hope will reach out to everyone who remembers the Meals of the sixties with nostalgia and to those, too young to remember, who are seeking a foundation on which to build their own social activism.
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To better understand the impact of social movements in ...)
To better understand the impact of social movements in recent years, this analysis distinguishes strategies of social change into two parts: organizing, which is characteristic of the 1960s movement in the United States, and accompaniment, which was articulated by Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador. Both are valuable tools for understanding and promoting social movements; in accompaniment, the promoter of social change and his or her oppressed colleague view themselves as two experts, each bringing indispensable experience to a shared project. Together, as equals, they seek to create what the Zapatistas call another world. The author applies the distinction between accompaniment and organizing to five social movements in which he has taken part: the labor and civil rights movements, the antiwar movement, prisoner insurgencies, and the movement sparked by Occupy Wall Street. Also included are the experiences of the authors wife Alice Lynd, a partner in these efforts, who has been a draft counselor and advocate for prisoners in maximum-security confinement.
Staughton Lynd is an American peace activist and civil rights activist, tax resister, historian, professor, author and lawyer.
Background
Staughton Lynd was the son of two of America's most famous sociologists, Helen Merrell Lynd and Robert S. Lynd, the authors of Middletown. In their pioneering study of an industrial American city (Muncie, Indiana), the senior Lynds concluded that the gap between middle-class and working-class people was crucial in determining their different life styles. Staughton Lynd never forgot this lesson. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 1929. When he was two years old his father was appointed professor of sociology at Columbia University, and Lynd grew up in the urban intellectual environment of New York City. His family played a vital role in the molding of his mind. His father had originally planned on a religious career. When he moved into academic work, his study of sociology tended to sustain the "class struggle" theory of Karl Marx. Thus Lynd's family was not only interested in events around them, it was eager to play some role in shaping those events. Lynd had difficulty discovering what he wanted to do with his life.
Education
After earning both Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Harvard University he worked on a farm, made toys in a utopian community, organized tenants to combat rent-gouging landlords, and served as a non-combatant conscientious objector in the army. In 1958 he decided on a career in the study and teaching of history. In 1962 he received his doctorate from Columbia University. He also graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1976.
Career
He wanted to follow somewhat in his father's footsteps by being} a student, author, and participant in contemporary American radical history. His decision was certain to cause problems for him, because most older historians then took the posture of "objectivity. " This meant that they approved the idea of study and authorship, but frowned upon young scholars who sought to play an active role in history. Moreover, the United States in the 1960s did not lend itself to objective contemplation. It was a polarizing society divided between youth and age, between black people and white, and between "hawks" who favored military solutions in international situations (particularly in Vietnam) and "doves" who preferred peaceful solutions. Lynd was a young Quaker and a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who opposed U. S. involvement in the war in Asia. Lynd's sympathies were with the southern segregated blacks who were fighting for voting rights and education. Lynd joined the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which had been formed while he was in graduate school. SNCC was committed to the mass education and political organization of the poorest southern blacks. Lynd's first teaching job was at a Black school in Atlanta, Georgia-Spelman College. Thus he was an obvious choice to serve in the summer of 1964 as a SNCC education project director in Mississippi. There he hired teachers, wrote curricula, located whatever classroom buildings he could, and began to teach reading and writing to illiterate working class people. In the fall of 1964 Lynd returned to New England to teach history as an untenured assistant professor at Yale University. By the spring of 1965 the First Marine Division had landed at Danang Air Base in South Vietnam, and the United States had started bombing enemy targets in Laos and North Vietnam. Lynd found his attention drawn away from the classroom and into active anti-war activity. During the summer of 1965 he refused to pay his taxes, and he openly advocated non-violent civil disobedience by those who opted to refuse draft induction. In August 1965 Lynd, David Dellinger, and 350 other protesters were summarily arrested in front of the Capitol in Washington, D. C. , for attempting to read a "Declaration of Peace" to the U. S. Congress. The conservative faculty members and administrators at Yale were not pleased with their young colleague's behavior. In December 1965 Herbert Aptheker, an American Communist historian, was invited to visit North Vietnam and to bring two non-Communist Americans with him. He chose as his travelling companions Tom Hayden, one of the founders of SDS, and Staughton Lynd. As soon as the university semester ended, the three men flew in defiance of U. S. travel regulations and without American passports to the Communist capital cities of Prague, Moscow, Peking, and Hanoi. They returned in early January and wrote a book appealing to Americans to look at the war through the eyes of the Asian peoples. Lynd started looking for another job as it became apparent that his Yale contract would not be renewed. During the 1960s Lynd's fame in the resistance movement made him a favored speaker at rallies and demonstrations. He was invited to teach at four different universities in Illinois, but at the last moment each time he was rejected. There was no question in his mind that he had been blacklisted by academe after the Hanoi trip. By the beginning of the 1970s it was clear that Lynd could not stand up actively for what he believed and at the same time be hired to teach history at any first-rank American university. After his graduation from the University of Chicago Law School in 1976 he soon afterward joined the staff of a Youngstown, Ohio, law firm specializing in labor law. Later he was hired by the National Legal Services Corporation to take legal cases for people too poor to pay for court representation. Lynd then began the next phase of his intellectual journey-towards a leftist critique of American capitalism, somewhere in that space which his father and Karl Marx said lay between middle and working class. During the recession of the early 19806-the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 19306-he joined with steelworkers in Youngstown to fight the closings of their plants, and wrote a book about their efforts, The Fight Against Shutdowns-the Youngstown Steel Mill Closings. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Lynd continued to battle against injustice by corporate America, writing books and articles and seeking to mobilize workers in defense of their rights. While others on the left urged the support of President Clinton, Lynd said that the President was a hypocrite who made "compassionate noises" while not having any intention to actually do anything about economic injustice.
Achievements
Staughton Lynd One of the most outspoken opponents of the Vietnam War, rebellious historian. He became a leading peace militant, and as a result he was shunned by academe and turned to the practice of law.
Quotations:
"Since coming to Youngstown, I've become more of a Marxist. I've seen. .. capital at work when U. S. Steel felt it could make more money by buying another company than by rebuilding its own steel mills. "
Personality
A man of inexhaustible energy, he authored a succession of books and articles on history and radical politics.
Connections
Staughton Lynd was married Alice Nyles Lynd. The couple had three children.
