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Not Talking UnionAn Oral History of North American Mennonites and Labour
9780773598959
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eBook Available
Why the majority of Mennonites rejected labour unions in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
How does one write a labour history of a people who have not been involved in the labour movement in significant numbers and, historically, have opposed union membership? While North American Mennonites have traditionally been associated with rural life, in light of the adjustments demanded by post-1945 urbanization and industrialization, they in fact became very involved in the workforce at a time of important labour foment.
Drawing on over a hundred interviews, Janis Thiessen explores Mennonite responses to labour movements such as Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, as well as Mennonite involvement in conscientious objection to unions. This innovative study of the Mennonites - a people at once united by an ethnic and religious identity, yet also shaped by differences in geography, immigration histories, denomination, and class position - provides insights into how and why they have resisted involvement in organized labour. Not Talking Union adds a unique perspective to the history of labour, exploring how people negotiate tensions between their commitments to faith and conscience and the demands of their employment.
Not Talking Union breaks new methodological ground in its close analysis of the oral narratives of North American Mennonites. Reflecting on both oral and archival sources, Thiessen shows why Mennonite labour history matters, and reveals the role of power and inequality in that history.
Drawing on over a hundred interviews, Janis Thiessen explores Mennonite responses to labour movements such as Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, as well as Mennonite involvement in conscientious objection to unions. This innovative study of the Mennonites - a people at once united by an ethnic and religious identity, yet also shaped by differences in geography, immigration histories, denomination, and class position - provides insights into how and why they have resisted involvement in organized labour. Not Talking Union adds a unique perspective to the history of labour, exploring how people negotiate tensions between their commitments to faith and conscience and the demands of their employment.
Not Talking Union breaks new methodological ground in its close analysis of the oral narratives of North American Mennonites. Reflecting on both oral and archival sources, Thiessen shows why Mennonite labour history matters, and reveals the role of power and inequality in that history.
Details
248 Pages, 6 x 9
1 photo, 3 tables
ISBN 9780773547537
April 2016
Formats: Paperback, eBook
“All of Thiessen’s arguments show how religion can be integrated into labour history in a complex and enriching way as well as how oral history can be a method for investigating religion and the world of work.” Steve Nolt, Goshen College
“Not Talking Union makes an original contribution to the study of North American labour and religious history. The book breaks new methodological ground in the author’s close attention to the oral narratives of North American Mennonites. It represents oral history at its analytical best.” Steven High, Concordia University
"In Not Talking Union, Thiessen seeks to use oral history to end the “silence among Mennonites on labour issues”. She has also written a book that demonstrates the strengths, limitations, and complexities of oral history, which she readily acknowledges and analyzes to the benefit of the reader. Indeed, this would be a wonderful book for an oral history class.” The American Historical Review
“Not Talking Union makes an original contribution to the study of North American labour and religious history. The book breaks new methodological ground in the author’s close attention to the oral narratives of North American Mennonites. It represents oral history at its analytical best.” Steven High, Concordia University
"In Not Talking Union, Thiessen seeks to use oral history to end the “silence among Mennonites on labour issues”. She has also written a book that demonstrates the strengths, limitations, and complexities of oral history, which she readily acknowledges and analyzes to the benefit of the reader. Indeed, this would be a wonderful book for an oral history class.” The American Historical Review
Janis Thiessen is associate professor of history at the University of Winnipeg.
Contents
Tables and Figure vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 “I tell you these things because it cast my view of God”:
Narratives of Religious Belief 17
2 “Not part of the landscape”: Attitudes toward Unions 39
3 “What would you say, for the archives?” California Mennonites
and Migrant Workers 70
4 “What is said publicly must be carefully framed”: Mennonite
Memory of California Conflict 91
5 “They work with troubled conscience”: Conscientious Objections
to Unions in Manitoba 109
6 “It’s easy to write a paper; it’s not so easy to live”: The Faith-Based
Workplace 135
Conclusion 154
Notes 161
Bibliography 201
Index 223
Tables and Figure vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 “I tell you these things because it cast my view of God”:
Narratives of Religious Belief 17
2 “Not part of the landscape”: Attitudes toward Unions 39
3 “What would you say, for the archives?” California Mennonites
and Migrant Workers 70
4 “What is said publicly must be carefully framed”: Mennonite
Memory of California Conflict 91
5 “They work with troubled conscience”: Conscientious Objections
to Unions in Manitoba 109
6 “It’s easy to write a paper; it’s not so easy to live”: The Faith-Based
Workplace 135
Conclusion 154
Notes 161
Bibliography 201
Index 223
