“Labor & Religion,” a special issue of our journal Labor, explores the intersections and relationships between labor and religion. Taking into the account the concept that American workers, labor movements and organizations are heavily influenced by religious institutions and traditions, contributors investigate a wide range of historical connections between labor and religion, including the farm workers on Cesar Chavez’s farm who marched for the Virgin of Guadalupe, the resistance of New York Jews to work during the Sabbath, and an investigation into Herberg’s religious triad and the “American Way of Life.”
Elizabeth Fones-Wolf and Ken Fones-Wolf, both of West Virginia University, address nineteenth-century shoemakers who named their union after the martyred St. Crispin, patron saint of cobblers, and the Knights of Labor who considered itself a Holy order. Other topics include the black tobacco strikers who sang the gospel hymn, “We Shall Overcome,” which went on to become the world’s most well-known protest song, as well as the failure of the South to mobilize and unionize after WWII, despite plenty of effort.
For more information about Labor, please visit: dukeupress.edu/labor.
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