Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States by J. Albert Mann (review)

Reviewed by: Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States by J. Albert Mann Kate Quealy-Gainer Mann, J. Albert. Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States. HarperCollins, 2024 [416p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780063273481 $21.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780063273511 $12.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 9-12 High school curriculums often look at how civil protests brought legislative victories that saw women and people of color get voting rights, but the intersection between those movements, class warfare, and labor unions is rarely covered. Mann looks to fill that major gap with this expansive, comprehensive, and wonderfully accessible text, taking on a century of progress that also had plenty of setbacks, backlash, and restarts. With the aptly named opening chapter "Is She Really Going to Start with Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus?", Mann does indeed start with their stories, positing that the "Age of Discovery" was a violent expansion of capitalism that required the brutal taking and colonization of lands from indigenous people. That economic foundation laid the groundwork for the "pyramid of oppression," by which oppressors—colonizers, landowners, corporations—divide the oppressed, assign value, and set them to fight each other instead of fighting for their own health, wealth, and safety. The idea that solidarity is the only way to break that setup is evidenced in the many—many—examples Marrin provides of labor movements, both unsuccessful and successful. The shootings at Haymarket Square, the tragedy at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, and the Memphis sanitation worker strike of the '60s might be familiar moments to students of U.S. history, but they are contextualized here and then linked to more recent and contemporary examples, including Amazon workers strikes, exploitive gig culture, and the mistreatment of "essential" employees during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In other hands, the snarky, conversational tone might feel like an adult's overreach, but Mann's simmering anger, careful deployment of swears, and clear passion for the working class will inspire readers just as much as the union leaders and organization efforts she covers.