Jefferson R. Cowie

Freedom's Dominion from Jefferson Cowie is an excellent look at how freedom is often, by whites who feel they are losing their entitlement, defined and manifests as opposition to the federal government.

For many who support a more just and equitable society it can be difficult to grasp the ways in which many whites utilize the concept of freedom to justify an undeserved and often violent domination over other groups. Yes, we can sorta grasp their twisting of the idea but only vaguely. Cowie show more does a commendable job of showing just how, in the eyes of these people, they are fighting for freedom. The thing that will still surprise us, though, will be that those people see nothing wrong with freedom being purposely and intentionally at the expense of, and on the backs of, other groups.

To the extent that a warped idea of freedom can be treated fairly, Cowie does a great job. Without endorsing those ideas he carefully lays out the how and why of their rationale. In other words, by the time we have finished the book, we do better understand how people can believe they are fighting for freedom. Theirs is an exclusive form while freedom is generally thought of as an inclusive idea. By not so much disguising their racism but conflating it with the idea of state's rights they can, arguably, consider it a fight for freedom. What really highlights their insincerity in the cause as defended is their eagerness to use the federal government against states and localities that don't toe their narrow-minded line.

Aside from how much this book sheds some light on current events it is also an engaging work of history. Well-written and presenting a lot of interesting information, this will appeal simply as a history book as well as a work showing the historical underpinnings of a lot of right-wing ideas about freedom.

Highly recommended for any reader with an interest in history, especially as it speaks to our current social environment.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

A really, really great historical study that spans American History centering primarily on a county in central Alabama. Cowrie's thesis is that when (white) people speak of freedom they mean their freedom to do what they want no matter who it hurts. He traces the story from the time when land is being taken away from Native Americans to all the ways over the years minority voting rights have been taken away ending with the January sixth attack on the capital to overturn the election. An show more excellent thought provoking study. show less

An absolutely brilliant book. Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working class expertly describes the transition of the working class in America from it’s zenith as a powerfully cohesive labor movement after WWII, through its fragmentation as economic, social and political factors put stress on that cohesion, to what can now arguably be called a post “working class” period in our history.

Incredibly dense, but incredibly readable Jefferson Cowie expertly weaves the show more different strands of social, cultural, economic, and political change that eventually caused the virtual death of the labor movement and its place as the spokesman for working class, into compelling narrative. What is beautiful about this book is that it is so tightly organized that despite the enormous amount of information Cowie throws at you, you never get lost.

It is clear that Cowie feels the end of the working class as a cohesive force in society is a bad thing, but he spares no punches in placing much of the blame on the unions and workers themselves. As they moved further from the heady days after WWII, unions began to grow content and bloated, unwilling to rock the boat lest they lose what they had already won. In many cases unions grew corrupt and bureaucratic, with many of its leaders more interested in accumulating power than in revitalizing and expanding their unions.

He is also critical of workers unable to resolve issues surrounding the politics of identity. Union membership often resented the inclusion of heretofore excluded groups including blacks, Hispanics, and women. Rather than try to incorporate them into the union structure and modify it to accommodate this new reality, they withdrew into resentment and apathy, eventually forming the core of the group known as “Reagan Democrats.”

On the other hand Cowie spares no criticism for politicians more interested in preserving and expanding corporate power than looking out for the workers that allowed those corporations to thrive in the first place. Eventually workers, tired of having both the government and corporations working to defeat them, became apathetic, and rather than try to find a new paradigm under which they could organize and regain some of their lost agency, became more interested in looking out for their own interests…forming the core of what became the “me generation” of the 1980s.

I especially enjoyed Cowie’s weaving of pop culture into the narrative, looking at movies, TV and music as reflections of this change. From Archie Bunker to Merle Haggard to Bruce Springsteen to Devo to Tony Manero to Norma Rae pop culture is often very prescient in reflecting what was going on in the wider culture. Cowie brilliantly includes this in his analysis.

I am not doing the book justice here, it really is one of the most effective and brilliant works on American History that I have ever read.

Highly, highly, highly recommended! show less

There are times when an overview work is precisesly what is useful to track the waxing, waning, and re-waxing of a particular movement, particularly when the name or names applied to that movement, linked by overriding philosophy, change radically over time. That overview is well provided in this work by looking at the histor in the lense of a particular county -- Barbour County, Alabama. This book capably takes us through the history of the philosophy of "states rights" over Federal show more regulations, a resurgance underway today. It provides a sobering evaluation of how we are going back to where we used to be, eliminating progress of more than 50 years of civil rights progress, by showing us how we got here in the first place.

This book answered a question I always had. I knew that after the Civil War, Black mostly voted Republican. By the time I was aware of politics, they were solidly Democrat. Why, how, and when did it happen? I recall the forward movement of voting rights, anti-lynching laws, fairness in employment, education, and all aspects of public life that were limited for African Americans were strongly pressed by the group called the Dixiecrats. Democrats all. The objectives of that group are strongly pressed today by the group called The Freedom Caucus. Republicans all. Why, how, and when did it happen? Those questions were answered for me by this book. show less