It Started in Wisconsin

March 15, 2012

Wisconsin caught the world's attention last February when its governor, Scott Walker, introduced a bill taking aim at collective bargaining rights for state public-sector workers. The resulting massive wave of dissent in the state capitol attracted protestors from around the country and sympathizers around the world. These essays, edited by Mary Jo Buhle (history & American civilization, emerita, Brown Univ.; Women and American Socialism) and Paul Buhle (former senior lecturer, Brown Univ.; coeditor, Encyclopedia of the American Left), now Wisconsin residents, delve into the historical, political, and ideological underpinnings of the 2011 events. The first couple of essays and Michael Moore's afterword amount to cheerleading for the "cause," but later chapters are meatier, with events set against the backdrop of early-20th-century Wisconsin progressive politics when Governor Robert "Fighting Bob" LaFollette began the crusade against the dominance of corporate America (at that time, railroads) over government. The book exposes how that same dominance continues today. VERDICT Despite this book's clear liberal bias, it will help readers, regardless of their own stance, to understand much of what's at stake in the country's current labor and political battles. [The reviewer is a Wisconsin state employee and political independent.--Ed.]--Carol J. Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Lib.

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