Dissertation
The Industrial Workers of the World and the Performance of Protest
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005161
Abstract
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international labor organization formed in Chicago in June of 1905 and aimed to transform the structure of global capitalism. The IWW, or Wobblies as they were known, became famous for their strikes, free-speech movements, and anti-war protests (as well as their songs, literature, and working-class art) during World War I throughout North America and many other industrialized nations. They were well known for cynicism and mockery of capitalism, politicians, law enforcement, and the justice system in general. These protests were performative acts or displays that generated immediate and long-term responses from their audiences. The IWW and their performative acts of protests were transnational in that they often crossed national boundaries and that nations and businesses created some of these transnational movements through deportations and the labor market.
I argue that IWW performances challenged structures of class, race, gender, and sexual binaries, as well as Victorian-era standards of respectability. This allowed members of traditionally disadvantaged groups to perform outside of the established norms of the day. The IWW included women and people of color and allowed them to participate on equal terms. Therefore, these performances not only challenged the political and economic system but also the established norms of patriarchy and white supremacy. The IWW was also an early advocate to normalize Queer sexual identities that were highly criminalized by the social and political structures of the nation-state. They advocated for working-class reforms that would benefit the masses of working people and these minority populations. This study also explores the bodily performances of fashion and tattoos among members of the IWW and how they were used to challenge norms of respectability in the working class. These performances reveal a great deal about the global and working-class connections of the IWW.
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Details
- Title
- The Industrial Workers of the World and the Performance of Protest
- Creators
- Aaron D Jesch
- Contributors
- Laurie K Mercier (Advisor)L. Heidenreich (Committee Member)Ashley Wright (Committee Member)Aaron Goings (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- History, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 286
- Identifiers
- 99901019231501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation