|
|
WOBBLIES!
A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World
Edited by Paul Buhle and Nicole Schulman
306pp., Paperbound, $25
(Verso) 2005
www.versobooks.com
www.iww.org
May Day seems as good a time as any to note this fine volume. Intended as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the I.W.W., Wobblies! is a spectacular achievement--a graphic novel history of one of the more important (and certainly among the most radical) labor organizations in U.S. history. Given that much of what we tend to remember today of the Industrial Workers of the World is bound up with its graphic iconography (the I.W.W. globe, the sabcat, etc.), it is indeed fitting that a graphic history should serve to celebrate the centennial of the Wobs. Edited by historian Paul Buhle (whose works include examinations of the Hollywood blacklist and popular culture, labor history, and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of the American Left) and Nicole Schulman (World War 3 Illustrated), and including contributions from artists such as Harvey Pekar, Carlos Cortez, Jeffery Lewis, Peter Kruper, and many others, the book is densely adorned with information and beautiful drawings. One would be hard pressed to name a piece of labor history as thoroughly captivating and visually stunning as this one. Known heroes (such as "Big" Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, "Rebel Girl" Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Emma Goldman, John Reed) and unknowns, events (Lawrence and Paterson strikes, the Ludlow Massacre, free speech battles), legends (the showing of a Wobbly red card to ride a boxcar), struggles, and celebrations are all covered in a format that is nearly impossible to put down. It is encouraging to learn that this book is but the first in a series of graphic histories--later volumes will include a graphic account of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, of Emma Goldman, and of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society (of which Buhle was a member in the 1960s).
Historians (of labor movements or otherwise) often consider the I.W.W. little more than an historical footnote--when they consider it at all. (Critics often scoffed that the I.W.W. initials stood for "I Won't Work" or "I Want Whisky.") That our political and economic climate today increasingly resembles that of a century ago (bloodshed for empire, wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, workers getting the shaft, trusts making a huge comeback), it should come as no surprise that the Wobblies have significant relevance. As corporations collude with governments around the world toward the goal of economic globalization and enact trade agreements that function to override basic human rights while keeping profit sacrosanct, the need for "One Big Union" to balance such unaccountable power is patently (no pun intended) obvious. The I.W.W. rejected the privileging of craft unions at the expense of a much larger number of "unskilled" workers, and continues to do so to this day. Though not as formidable a force as in its heyday (anti-free speech measures such as the so-called Sedition Act took some of the wind from the Wobblies' sails upon the U.S entrance into World War I), the I.W.W. continues its work even in 2005. With a global economy so dependent upon a fragmented and atomized workforce (be they in the service economy or migrant workers--or both), the time is ripe for organizing and direct action. And if we get enough people aligned against empire and the theft known as profit, the math becomes fairly evident--there's a lot more of us than there are of them. As Bill Haywood noted back in the day, five separate fingers on a hand are isolated and weak, but together as a fist, they are strong and powerful. -EDWARD BURCH
|
|
|
