Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.94 (741 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0190847379 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 296 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-09-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Carter advances a bold new interpretation of the origins of American Social Christianity. The city's trade unionists, socialists, and anarchists advanced theological critiques of laissez faire capitalism and protested "scab ministers" who cozied up to the business elite. Leading readers into the thick of late-19th-century Chicago's tumultuous history, Carter shows that countless working-class believers participated in the heated debates over the implications of Christianity for industrializing society, often with as much fervor as they did in other contests over wages and the length of the workday. The major characters--blacksmiths, glove makers, teamsters, printers, and the like--have been mostly forgotten, but as Carter convincingly argues, their collective contribution to American Social Christianity was no less significant than that of Walter Rauschenbusch or Jane Addams. In Gilded Age America, rampant inequality gave rise to a new form of Christianity, one that sought to ease the sufferings of the poor not simply by saving their souls, but by transforming society. Their criticisms compounded church leaders' anxieties about losing the poor, such that by the turn-of-the-century many leading Christians were arguing that the only way to salvage hopes of a Christian America was for the churches to soften their position on "the labor question." As denomination after
Chicago, Labor and Religion--An Irresistible Mix The story goes that a small group of radical, white, male leaders created social Christianity, supported by the middle classes. Heath Carter's account of Chicago, labor and the churches offers a different tale.In Union Made (Oxford), Carter tells about dozens of ordinary working folk, black and white, men and women, who played an essential role (along with much less heralded clergy). They were central in b
Heath W. He is co-editor of both The Pew and the Picket Line: Christianity and the American Working Class and Turning Points in the History of AmericanEvangelicalism.. Carter is an associate professor at Valparaiso University, where he teaches a variety of
"The author's respect for those 'prophets' is patent throughout the book, and he demonstrates why they deserve such respect."--Journal of Ecclesiastical History"A highly readable narrativeThe book's strengths lie in clear, narrative prose that belies the enormous primary and secondary research the book requiredRecommended."--CHOICE"Carter's strong, clear argument is based on his extensive and creative research, as well as a highly readable narrativeHis narrative skillfully interweaves biographical information on key actors and situates the story in concrete placesForcefully crafted and ambitiously conceivedThe author deserves much praise for crafting a long overdue and engaging study that interrelates working people's mobilization at the job and in union halls with their stands in t