Overview

Contesting claims that postwar American liberalism retreated from fights against unemployment and economic inequality, The Problem of Jobs reveals that such efforts did not collapse after the New Deal but instead began to flourish at the local, rather than the national, level. With a focus on Philadelphia, this volume illuminates the central role of these local political and policy struggles in shaping the fortunes of city and citizen alike. In the process, it tells the remarkable story of how Philadelphia’s policymakers and community activists energetically worked to challenge deindustrialization through an innovative series of job retention initiatives, training programs, inner-city business development projects, and early affirmative action programs. Without ignoring the failure of Philadelphians to combat institutionalized racism, Guian McKee's account of their surprising success draws a portrait of American liberalism that evinces a potency not usually associated with the postwar era. Ultimately interpreting economic decline as an arena for intervention rather than a historical inevitability, The Problem of Jobs serves as a timely reminder of policy’s potential to combat injustice.  

Full Product Details

9780226560120

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Guian McKee gets far below the iconic political benchmarks of the New Deal and the Great Society to reveal the dense urban stew of community action, boosterism, business development, and organizing that all placed jobs at the center of urban politics in Philadelphia. Yet this is no simple eulogy for a lost political world. McKee lays bare the specific types of pragmatic on-the-ground accomplishments that make employment the center of urban history. This is where the rubber meets the road not just in the history of urban politics, but its future as well."" - Jefferson Cowie, Cornell University"""

Guian McKee gets far below the iconic political benchmarks of the New Deal and the Great Society to reveal the dense urban stew of community action, boosterism, business development, and organizing that all placed jobs at the center of urban politics in Philadelphia. Yet this is no simple eulogy for a lost political world. McKee lays bare the specific types of pragmatic on-the-ground accomplishments that make employment the center of urban history. This is where the rubber meets the road not just in the history of urban politics, but its future as well. - Jefferson Cowie, Cornell University

Author Information

Guian A. McKee is assistant professor at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available