When Workers Shot Back argues that the escalation of working-class
conflict drives rather than reacts to capital's consolidation and
reorganisation.
When Workers Shot Back: Class Conflict from 1877 to 1921 explores one
of the most tumultuous times in United States history. Self-organized
workers recomposed their power by devising new strategies and tactics
to disrupt the capitalist economy and extract concessions. Mine,
railroad, steel, and iron workers pursued a strategy of tension that
sometimes erupted into militant class conflict and general strikes in
which workers took over and ran a number of cities. Turning
conventional wisdom on its head, When Workers Shot Back argues that
the escalation of working-class conflict drives rather than reacts to
the consolidation and reorganisation of capital and economic and
political reform of the state. Studying the class composition of this
period illustrates why workers escalated the intensity of their
tactics, even using tactical violence, to extract concessions and
reforms when all other efforts to do so were blocked, co-opted or
repressed.
