Strike like No Other Strike

Richard A. Brisbin, Jr., is an associate professor of political science at West Virginia University. He is the author of Justice Antonin Scalia and the Conservative Revival, also available from Johns Hopkins.

• Contents: A Tale of a "Strike like No Other Strike" The United Mine Workers and the Legal Contitution of American Labor The Legal Complex and Union Power Union and Managments Define their Stratagies The Union Plans a Social Drama The Union Stages a Social Drama Lawbreaking Competing Explanations of Resistance The Domestication of Resistance Resistance and the lives of the Strikers The Power of Law and the Effectiveness of Resistance

Brisbin does an admirable job not only of conveying the historical events and their context, but also of making explicit the evolution and development that occurred on both sides of the struggle. -- Gordon Simmons Appalachian Heritage Richard Brisbin's excellent book sits at the intersection of law, political science, sociology, and history... Brisbin is utterly convincing in his conclusion that the miners were in the end reduced to Arendtian animals laborans who worked only for sustenance rather than for the joy of creation and integration into a community. -- Julie Novkov Law and Politics Book Review The book brims with insights into the history of the Pittston strike and into a miner's way of life... [Brisbin] describes hanging out at the picketing shacks, protests led by Jesse Jackson and Cesar Chavez, militant priests and nuns, and mine takeovers, complete with dancing and live country music. -- Henry S. Cohn The Federal Lawyer It is clear that Brisbin's personal experience with the 'American worker' informs his interpretation of the Pittston coal strike, and he leaves the reader at once inspired and dismayed by the subjectivity of American law. Virginia Libraries Gives fascinating insights for those involved in directing collective bargaining activities, both as managers and union activists. -- Michael Wald Monthly Labor Review This excellent study describes the 1989-1990 Pittston coal strike... Brisbin avoids offering a traditional narrative in favor of a deeper analysis of the dispute that explores the strike's significance as an exercise in civil disobedience and oppositional culture... Brisbin is to be commended for dissecting what happened here with an eye toward its wider implications. -- Richard P. Mulcahy Journal of American History A comprehensive account and analysis of the lengthy Pittston coal strike of 1989-90, focusing on the effects of the law and its apparatus on the actions of Pittston Coal, the United Mine Workers union, judges, and the miners themselves. Choice A useful read for any student of the Appalachian region. -- Mark S. Myers West Virginia History Richard Brisbin has done a service in putting together this book... a welcome new resource. -- Fran Ansley Journal of Appalachian Studies