Bookshelf

Book Review: Unions and Class Transformation: The Case of the Broadway Musicians

January 12, 2016 1325
Unions and Class Transformation Book Cover

Unions and Class Transformation: The Case of the Broadway Musicians. Catherine P. Mulder; New York and London: Routledge, 2009, xiii + 147 pp. DOI: 10.1177/0486613415574474

Costas Panayotakis of New York City College of Technology recently took the time to review the book in the December 2015 issue of Review of Radical Political Economics. From the review:

One of the features of our age is the decline of organized labor. This decline has been especially dramatic in the United States and has led to numerous books and articles investigating its causes, effects, as well as the labor strategies that could reverse it. As many of these works have recognized, responsible for this decline are both the loss of industrial jobs as a result of new labor-saving technologies and capital’s increased ability to scour the global economy for cheap labor.

Catherine Mulder’s contribution to this problem is unique in a number of ways. First of all, it recounts the experience of Broadway RRPE 2015musicians. They are a segment of organized labor that goes beyond the usual suspects of unions within industrial manufacturing or even the public sector unions that have increasingly captured people’s attention as they have become the largest segment of unionized labor in the United States. While focusing on a segment of the labor force that does not figure prominently in scholarly analyses of organized labor, Mulder also makes clear that both the issues faced by Broadway musicians and the lessons that can be drawn from their experience are broadly relevant. In this respect, Mulder’s book constitutes a genuine contribution to the debate on the future of organized labor rather than simply a monograph on a union local that had not been studied in the past.

You can read the full review from Review of Radical Political Economics by clicking here. Like what you read? Click here to sign up for e-alerts and have all the research and reviews like this sent directly to your inbox!

Business and Management INK puts the spotlight on research published in our more than 100 management and business journals. We feature an inside view of the research that’s being published in top-tier SAGE journals by the authors themselves.

View all posts by Business & Management INK

Related Articles

Pope Francis, Human Dignity, and the Right to Stay, Migrate and Return
International Debate
May 5, 2025

Pope Francis, Human Dignity, and the Right to Stay, Migrate and Return

Read Now
Banning Social Media Won’t Solve Teen Misogyny
Bookshelf
May 2, 2025

Banning Social Media Won’t Solve Teen Misogyny

Read Now
From Isolation to Impact: Tackling the Emotional Toll of Ethnographic Research in Business and Society
Business and Management INK
April 22, 2025

From Isolation to Impact: Tackling the Emotional Toll of Ethnographic Research in Business and Society

Read Now
“Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost.” –Nintendo “Quit Screen” Message
Business and Management INK
April 8, 2025

“Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost.” –Nintendo “Quit Screen” Message

Read Now
The End of the Free Trade Era?

The End of the Free Trade Era?

On April 2, United States President Donald Trump declared “liberation day,” unveiling a new tariff (tax on imported goods) regime that targets […]

Read Now
Author Reflections on Intraorganizational Developmental Networks

Author Reflections on Intraorganizational Developmental Networks

In this post, Andrew Dhaenens, a lecturer in the School of Management & Governance at the University of New South Wales Sydney, […]

Read Now
Yes, Cities Can Be Sexist 

Yes, Cities Can Be Sexist 

In this month’s issue of The Evidence newsletter, Josephine Lethbridge examines how city designs exacerbate gender inequalities – and what we can […]

Read Now
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments