Class Political Organizing and Welfare Capitalism

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1992

Publication Title

Critical Sociology

Volume

19

Issue

1

First page number:

69

Last page number:

101

Abstract

Studies of business' role in the development of the welfare state, while noting the ability of capitalist class coalitions to affect state policy, focus narrowly on battles over specific policies. They tend to emphasize temporary alliances and to overlook capitalists' extensive organizational activities in regulating capital-labor relations even before the New Deal — particularly through the open shop and welfare capitalist movements. This paper examines these organizations, how they forged class coalitions, and how they articulated with the state. It shows that organizational capacity is an important variable in theorizing capital-state relations. Capital's organizational capacity is affected by historical conditions that impact the development of class segments, the organizational capacity of labor, and state structures and agendas.

Keywords

Business; Contemporary Marxism; Marxism and culture; Middle class; Public welfare; Social service; Upper class; Working class

Disciplines

Inequality and Stratification | Philosophy | Sociology

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

UNLV article access

Search your library

Share

COinS