Labor Republicanism and the Freedom Question in 19th Century North America

Luke and Donald join Alexander Gourevitch, author of From Slavery to Cooperative Commonwealth: Labor and Republican Liberty in the 19th Century, for a wide-ranging discussion about the republican conception of freedom and how republicanism was taken up by workers in the United States. They begin by discussing older conceptions of freedom and slavery and how those ideas evolved. They consider the Workingmen’s Parties and the Knights of Labor as examples of ‘labor republicans’ who saw wage labor as a form of slavery. They discuss Supreme Court rulings that embody the distinction between ‘laissez-faire’ and ‘labor republicanism,’ as well as different conceptions of ‘civic virtue.’ They conclude by exploring the potential for a universal struggle under the banner of freedom from domination and all forms of servitude.