Right Out of California
The 1930s and the Big Business Roots of Modern Conservatism
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
“Olmsted finds in Depression-era California the crucible for strong-arm policies against farm workers that bolstered the conservative movement” (Kirkus Reviews).
At a time when a resurgent immigrant labor movement is making urgent demands on twenty-first-century America—and when a new and virulent strain of right-wing anti-immigrant populism is roiling the political waters—Right Out of California is a fresh and profoundly relevant touchstone for anyone seeking to understand the roots of our current predicament.
This major reassessment of modern conservatism reexamines the explosive labor disputes in the agricultural fields of Depression-era California, the cauldron that inspired a generation of artists and writers and that triggered the intervention of FDR’s New Deal. Noted historian Kathryn S. Olmsted tells how this brief moment of upheaval terrified business leaders into rethinking their relationship to American politics—a narrative that pits a ruthless generation of growers against a passionate cast of reformers, writers, and revolutionaries.
“Olmstead’s vivid, accomplished narrative really belongs to the historiography of the left . . . As her strong research shows, race and gender prejudice informed, or deformed, almost the whole of American social and cultural life in the 1930s and was as common on the left as on the right.” —The New York Times Book Review
“An accessible work that aids in contextualizing the rise of future conservative leaders such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.” —Publishers Weekly
“A major reworking of the Republican right’s origins, this is also a compelling read for anyone interested in California’s outsize importance in America’s recent past.” —Darren Dochuk, author of From Bible Belt to Sunbelt
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Olmsted (Real Enemies), chair of the history department at the University of California, Davis, suggests that the New Deal's National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which lacked protection for agricultural workers who wanted to unionize, served as the catalyst for the organization of the political right as it is known today. Olmsted's research goes beyond newspaper archives and government transcripts, many of which, she points out, purposely did not record statements and speeches made by union organizers. Instead, she delves into oral histories and personal papers to tell the stories of how growers used violence, espionage, and virulent anti-Communist rhetoric to invoke the idea that unions would destroy the family, traditional gender roles, and whites' ability to subjugate non-whites. Olmsted expressly places a larger focus on women's involvement in the struggle for fair treatment of pickers, writing at length on Communist organizer Caroline Decker and political activist Ella Winter. This fuller perspective along with sections on famous literary figures of the time, including Upton Sinclair, Langston Hughes, and John Steinbeck cements Olmsted's authority on the subject of labor organization. This is an accessible work that aids in contextualizing the rise of future conservative leaders such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. B&w photos.
