Presentation Title
The Universal to the Material: Social Citizenship and New Deal Labor Organizing in the Chicago Meatpacking Industry
Degree Name
Master of Interdisciplinary Studies (MA)
Department
Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
Location
UW Y Center
Start Date
21-5-2015 5:00 PM
End Date
21-5-2015 5:05 PM
Abstract
A sense of togetherness is a key component of our lives. Citizenship theory has expanded on ideal forms of ‘togetherness’ by articulating and debating the bounds of what constitutes a healthy and proper social and political community. Traditionally, citizenship has been rooted in the liberal tradition, and seen as a favoring the universal natural rights of the individual. This is private notion of citizenship contrasts with the public notion of citizenship as political deliberations for the common good. Despite this contradiction, civil and political rights have been the foundation of many Western democracies. As countries have attempted to solve the issue of inequality, many scholars have suggested that social citizenship, or the creation of social welfare policies, should be used to equalize economic disparity. This idea becomes problematic as some scholars criticize the unequal process of obtaining US citizenship, socially and politically. To interrogate this contradiction, I suggest we view citizenship – or the act of ‘togetherness’ – as a social phenomenon that is locally rooted in various communities, and contingent on social movement building, instead of an isolated process of policy development. This locally rooted social process within community organizations helps to establish new social and material realities in such acts as labor organizing that should be viewed as a key component of citizenship. To demonstrate this, I examine the Chicago meatpacking industry, and the union activism of meatpacking workers during the New Deal which changed peoples’ everyday lives and material realities. I propose to highlight how private citizenship rights – as a legal and theoretical model – have neglected to recognize the public aspect of communities, and important processes of ‘togetherness’.
COinS
The Universal to the Material: Social Citizenship and New Deal Labor Organizing in the Chicago Meatpacking Industry
UW Y Center
A sense of togetherness is a key component of our lives. Citizenship theory has expanded on ideal forms of ‘togetherness’ by articulating and debating the bounds of what constitutes a healthy and proper social and political community. Traditionally, citizenship has been rooted in the liberal tradition, and seen as a favoring the universal natural rights of the individual. This is private notion of citizenship contrasts with the public notion of citizenship as political deliberations for the common good. Despite this contradiction, civil and political rights have been the foundation of many Western democracies. As countries have attempted to solve the issue of inequality, many scholars have suggested that social citizenship, or the creation of social welfare policies, should be used to equalize economic disparity. This idea becomes problematic as some scholars criticize the unequal process of obtaining US citizenship, socially and politically. To interrogate this contradiction, I suggest we view citizenship – or the act of ‘togetherness’ – as a social phenomenon that is locally rooted in various communities, and contingent on social movement building, instead of an isolated process of policy development. This locally rooted social process within community organizations helps to establish new social and material realities in such acts as labor organizing that should be viewed as a key component of citizenship. To demonstrate this, I examine the Chicago meatpacking industry, and the union activism of meatpacking workers during the New Deal which changed peoples’ everyday lives and material realities. I propose to highlight how private citizenship rights – as a legal and theoretical model – have neglected to recognize the public aspect of communities, and important processes of ‘togetherness’.