Assess the significance of popular protest in challenging authority and its success in bringing about change in the years 1880-1992. Popular protests have taken place throughout history and all over the world. In Britain, during 1880-1992, many protests took place and challenged authority in order to bring about change. The significance of these protests is highlighted by the need for unionism and working class involvement and representation in politics, which is shown by the events and outcome of the Match Girls and London Dock Strikes (1888, 1889) and the reaction to the Taff Vale Judgement (1901). This was also shown by the change to authority in the period: from individual companies, such as Bryant and May (1888), to governments (1945 …show more content…
The 1888 Match Girls Strike is arguably one of the most important popular protests in British history. The strike was protesting against unfair working conditions in Bryant and May’s London factory. Employees had contracted Phossy Jaw from the matches, and the unfair fines system left many underpaid and, as Annie Besant described them: “white wage slaves”. The significance of the strike is shown by the implications it had on unionism, as it arguably kickstarted the modern trade union movement. The Match Girls founded their own union after the strike, the ‘Matchmakers Union,’ which, although disbanding in 1903, set out the foundation for trade unionism, which is still used today, and had a large impact on industrial workers at the time. Louise Raw argues that the London Dock Strike of 1889 was heavily influenced by the Match Girls. Reading the Dockers’ speeches, she recalled, showed that leaders used the example of the women to “spur the men on… ‘don’t give up, remember the Match Girls.’” In addition, it can be argued that the Match Girls inspired the Dockers as many of the men were related to the women and children who worked for Bryant and May. The Match Girls also set up a template for industrial action, which, if used today, leads to successful strikes and protests. The
The book begins by describing participants in a garment industry strike and how any form of challenge to the authority, the factory owners, would be handled. He describes the money driven political corruption that allowed the owners to thwart any upheaval by sending out the muscles of the not so underworld to beat the strikers, women included. One of these occasions, in September of 1909, included Miss Clara Lemlich. She was a fiery member of the socialist party and a garment worker. She personified the change in women of the day. Women who worked and supported a family, She represented the image of “The Gibson Girl”. After leaving a strike, she was targeted as a trouble maker and one of the criminals of the day was paid to beat her. This did however backfire as a bruised woman brought more people to the cause. On many occasions the protestors were arrested on trumped up charges to punish them for making waves. The police were also believed to be on the payroll. The main political team at the time was out of Tammany Hall.
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike that are still important today. Was striking a proper means of getting what the workers wanted? Were there better means of petitioning their grievances? Was government intervention constitutional? All these questions were raised by the Pullman Strike.
Unions were looked down upon and often scoffed at by factory owners. England even went through a period where unions were outlawed because of how liberal they were. People during the time of the Industrial Revolution were taken advantage of and were not paid as much as they should have been. One protester was set up at a train station protesting “against the triumph of machinery and the gain and glory which the wealthy. men were likely to derive from it,” (Document 2).
The early 1900s was a time of many movements, from the cities to the rural farms; people were uniting for various causes. One of the most widespread was the labor movement, which affected people far and wide. Conditions in the nation’s workplaces were notoriously poor, but New York City fostered the worst. Factories had started out in the city’s tenements, which were extremely cramped, poorly ventilated, and thoroughly unsanitary. With the advent of skyscrapers, factories were moved out of the tenements and into slightly larger buildings, which still had terrible conditions. Workers were forced to work long hours (around 12 hours long) six hours a day, often for extremely low pay. The pay was also extremely lower for women, who made up a large portion of the shirtwaist industry. If a worker were to openly contest an employer’s rule, they would be promptly fired and replaced immediately. Also, strength in numbers did not always work. Managers often hired brutal strikebreakers to shut movements down. The local police and justice were often of no help to the workers, even when women were being beaten. At the time, the workers needs were not taken seriously and profit was placed ahead of human life. This was not just a struggle for workers’ rights; it was also a movement for the working class’ freedom.
During the beginning of the 20th century, the increase activity of the National Union Of Women attractive additional support of the suffrage movement. “However, it was possible to criticize the policy and tactics of the constitutional suffragist on several grounds. It was argued that the suffragists should have revolted in 1884, when the amendment to the reform bill of that year failed through the opposition of the liberal leadership, but the suffragists were too well mannered to do more protesting and concentrate all of their efforts on one private members bill.” The women suffrage’s organization could not force the political parties to adopt the cause of women’s suffrage and need a major party to pick up their campaign or there was no hope of a government bill. Women’s suffrages leaders saw that they need more of a drastic tactics to gain public awareness. Women started protesting by undergoing violence methods and tactics however, the National Union Of Women believed that any aggression or violence acts of protesting would only weaken the movement. These actions would persuade male’s voters that women are too emotional and thus could not be trusted with the responsible of voting. These gentle ways of protesting was unconvincing, as many political believed would give up or lose interests. The lack of actions cause many women to take strongest methods of protesting their rights and formed a more violent group called Suffragettes.
Rodney King a black man who lived in Las Vegas was severely beaten by four white police officers. The officers were brought into court and tried on charges of assault. The officers were acquitted of the assault charges. Immediately protestors took to the streets, to express their angry over the judge’s decision. Protestors found the ruling to be unfair and was fed up with the ill-treatment. The violent protest turned into a riot. A lot of damage occurred; over 50 people were killed, over 2,300 people injured, 8,000 arrests and estimated over $1 billion in property damage. The riots exposed the police abuse, poverty, and lack of economic opportunity. If it was not for the violent protestors no light would have been shed on the way black were being
The United States and Latin America have had a long history of relations in regards to populist movements. Many times these populist movements have been anti- United States. We have intervened many times and in many different ways, however I do not believe there is one course of action for Latin America as a whole as it is made up of many different countries with different needs and different leaders. Two examples of when the United States government responded to populist politics, revolutions, or revolts in the 20th century was in Argentina against Juan Peron and his populist movement as well as in Cuba against Fidel Castro. In order to come up with a response for the rise of the Populist Party today, we need to understand what we have done
This protest and arrests happening today are similar to some events happening in Europe in the 1700’s. The women there wanted to have the same rights, freedoms
During the 1980s, Trade Unions encountered significant challenges and losses, this occurred against a backdrop of rapid expansion and influence. Before the 1979 conservative election victory it was distinctively voluntarist, with minor legislative intervention. (Gallie et al, 1996).Two strikes in particular, the miners’ strike and the News International industrial dispute changed the face of Industrial Relations in the UK. The conduct and outcome of the disputes led to significant changes with regards to the role of the state, the role of employers and the power of the unions in contemporary Industrial relations. This essay will critically evaluate the conduct of the unions, the state, the miners and the police, it will consider the changing role of the state and the police towards industrial action and the effect the conduct and outcome of the strike has had on present day industrial relations.
Led by Clara Lemlich, 20,000 immigrants, mostly young women, demanded a twenty percent pay raise, a fifty-two hour workweek, and a closed shop (59). Their cause gained a significant amount of attention and caught the eye of wealthy progressive reformers, such as Alva Belmont and Anne Morgan, who perceived the strike as an opportunity to also advocate their own objective: women’s suffrage. Wealthy elites like Carnegie and Sumner may have believed that efforts to change the natural order are futile, but Morgan claimed that after learning about the details of the strike, she and other women wouldn’t be able to live their lives “without doing something to help them” (72). These affluent women demonstrated their support from both sides of the spectrum, from modestly distributing ribbons and buttons, to Alva Belmont’s contribution of her several cars to a parade for the striking workers (682) and the pledge of her mansion as surety for the bail of four strikers (76). Without the aid of these women, it was doubtful the strikers “could have lasted much longer without progressive money” (70). However, frustration arose amongst picketers as these progressive reformers turned a strike based on class struggle into a “broader feminist revolt” (68). Morgan blamed the strikers’ treatment on the inability for women to vote, not their inability to unionize (67). Striker’s retorted, asking
From the Boston Tea Party of 1773, the Civil Rights Movement and the Pro-Life Movement of the 1960s, to the Tea Party Movement and Occupy Wall Street Movement of current times, “those struggling against unjust laws have engaged in acts of deliberate, open disobedience to government power to uphold higher principles regarding human rights and social justice” (DeForrest, 1998, p. 653) through nonviolent protests. Perhaps the most well-known of the non-violent protests are those associated with the Civil Rights movement. The movement was felt across the south, yet Birmingham, Alabama was known for its unequal treatment of blacks and became the focus of the Civil Rights Movement. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, African-Americans in Birmingham, began daily demonstrations and sit-ins to protest discrimination at lunch counters and in public facilities. These demonstrations were organized to draw attention to the injustices in the city. The demonstrations resulted in the arrest of protesters, including Martin Luther King. After King was arrested in Birmingham for taking part in a peaceful march to draw attention to the way that African-Americans were being treated there, their lack of voter rights, and the extreme injustice they faced in Alabama he wrote his now famous “Letter from Birmingham.”
In the 19th Century, workers began organizing to form Labor Unions and began rallying and putting on strikes for better treatment. There were three main unions that were formed, who lobbied for rights of the skilled, unskilled, women, and African American workers of America. The National Labor Union, Knights of Labor, and American Federation of Labor worked to gain laws and better wages for workers. Some were more successful than others, however each learned from the others mistakes. I will be examining the similarities, differences and why some failed while the others
The lessons and insights from this case that are still relevant for young workers and their allies today is that the women workers Woolworth’s strike was an example of solidarity and how by coming together to fight for equality you can make a change. These women were ordinary people, with no history in activism, they saw the victory of the General Motors sit-in and what they won, and said yes we want that too. This proves that anyone can do this, if you are being taken advantage of as a worker, you have options to come together collectively and engage in solidarity to make a change. When the 99% backs each other up to fight the 1%, you can win battles you never thought were imaginable. This was proven in the GM strike victory, the legendary Women Woolworth’s victory and their ripple affect to all the other strikes and victories which occurred in many other workplaces after.
The populist movement is a variety of reform initiatives associated with popular sentiment. The Populists dreamed of creating a broad political coalition. Populism however, appealed to small farmers in particular with economic security. Out in the Midwest, Populists were typically family farmers who wanted their land back or tried to keep it in the first place. In the South, there were many modest landowners as well as sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Throughout all the differences most Populist had one thing in common: there were associated with a type of farming.
Social movements have played a defining role for society’s actors since the mid-18th century when followers of the English politician, John Wilkes, ran for the lower house of parliament on a platform to promote civil rights for all citizens of England . This social movement was not phenomena, but a direct response to changes occurring at the time namely: urbanization, use of print media, and the growing idea of popular sovereignty . In addition, the Enlightened writings of European, mostly French, philosophes were impacting much of the Western world which was just on the cusp of several revolutions for independence from the dominating and repressive political culture . According to Francis Fukuyama, “civil society serves to balance the power of the state and to protect individuals from the state’s power” . Civil society promotes democracy. Global civil society is also democratic in nature and creates a platform for dialogue . However, even in democracies, there are injustices and inequalities. Enter the role of social movements in global civil society. Social movements “organize and mobilize those who have failed to find redress for their grievances through the existing political system” . They seek to bring to the forefront issues that often challenge the dominant social, political, or economic structure.