American Labor and European Politics
Douglas, William A.
which is evidenced in his essay "Regarding Places." He points out, for example, that a feeling "for the lay and character of the land must have been near universal in the ancient Mediterranean...
...As political scientist he is interested in he AFL as an "NGO," that is, a nongovernmental organization acting in international affairs...
...And it sup ported the Marshall Plan by sponsoring : series of labor conferences on the trad, unions' role in the Plan, and by promotin I the creation of a dock committee within th, International Transport Federation tq counter Communist efforts at preventin I the unloading of U.S...
...humanistic civilization Richard Wilbur has the intellect, crafts manship, and philosophy to discover an, express in the right words the facts of ou inner experience in this age...
...Godson, a professor of political science at Georgetown University and a second-generation expert on U.S...
...Noting that the AFL was able t, act effectively only because of certain pre vailing circumstances, Godson conclude his book by estimating whether simila circumstances exist today which migh allow a new period of AFL-CIO activity iJ Europe...
...Qualified" ma seem a strange word, but many abl writers are disqualified becausethey ar alienated, because their language i absurdly esoteric, and because they lac respect for our...
...These comments reflect Richard Wilbur's concerns--the traditional concerns of the poet, the "private experiences of nature or God or love...
...Brown comes off as less than omnipotent, but considerably more interesting than in the unbelievable portrayals by leftist myth-makers...
...The book is characterized by carefu scholarship, an objective weighing of the evidence, and a refusal to jump to extrem~ conclusions...
...36 The Alternative: An American Spectator April 197...
...ships...
...labor's international affairs, takes as a case-study the AFL's work in France and Italy from 1947 to 1950 in countering Communist efforts to dominate European labor and use it to disrupt the Marshall Plan...
...The AFL supported antiCommunists both materially (with food, machines, and money) and politically (with assurances of sympathy, encouragement to act, and dissemination of propaganda attacking Communist labor groups an, praising democratic forces...
...and the Pentagon to make the world safe for penetration by multi-national corporations...
...labor's international activities by revisionists, New Leftists, and vestigial fellow travelers...
...Japan, to this day, is attentive and imaginatively responsive to every natural scene...
...The common language of rural topography-that vocabulary of dell, swale, coppice, and coomb which Hardy used so well--has fallen into disuse, so that we are relatively speechless before the landscape...
...In France and Italy, as the cold war intruded on the temporary spirit of unity that had prevailed during the struggle against Hitler, the AFL opted to support the anti-Communist confederations which had sprung up parallel to and in competition with Communist labor movements...
...He judges that though man' things have changed, the present circum stances do offer promising opportunitie: for U.S~ labor...
...It is manifested as clearly i: Wilbur's prose as in his poetry...
...In the works of R~mald Radosh, Sidney Lens, George Morris, Fred Hirsch, Philip Agee, and Ruth Needleman the reader enters into a mythological world in which the AFL-CIO is one of the principal demons, working in collusion with the CIA, the militaryindustrial complex, Wall Street imperialism...
...Certain ways and means of perceiving nature are fast being lost to u s , " he notes...
...And these prose piece s make plain how well qualified he is to be a poet for our time...
...He points out, for example, that a feeling "for the lay and character of the land must have been near universal in the ancient Mediterranean world...
...Indeed, the sense of place was very strong in Americans of the past...
...impression that AFL representative Irving Brown went zipping from crisis to crisis faster than a speeding bullet, singlehandedly subverting whole national labor movements, stopping strikes of "progressive forces" by a quick flash of his cornucopian black bag, and leaping national frontiers with a single bound...
...Professor Godson guides his readers through the events of those years from a dual perspective...
...Godson cites as favorabh factors the growing interdependence of tht Atlantic world, and the rising recognitiot there that the continued Soviet interest ii European trade union developments i.' aimed to the USSR's strategic advantage Such circumstances, he suggests, ma 1 weaken the anti-anti-Communism o European democratic labor leaders, ant thus allow the AFI.-CIO to shore u t democratic labor in Europe, especiall) along its Mediterranean littoral...
...This is a vet rare gift...
...labor's overseas representatives are in fact kept ignorant of what the CIA is up to, receive only benign neglect from most corporate boardrooms, are considered lunatic radicals by the colonels in the Military Assistance Groups, and think it a major financial coup when they can wheedle an extra $20,000 in contract money out of AID...
...As political scientist, Godson conclude that U.S...
...14.50 William A. Douglas Recent years have seen a torrent of writings on U.S...
...trade unions, as NGOs, had significant though not overwhelming effec on what happened in Europe...
...Godson the historian shows us the structure for foreign-affairs decisionmaking in the AFL, how the leadership viewed the strengths and intentions of the Communist and non-Communist labor forces in Europe, and what courses of action were finally undertaken...
...The NGOs are much studied these days as political scientists recognize that nations and their governments are not the only actors on the international stage...
...Now, it is withering away...
...Godson's work is balanced and balance is what has been sorel} needed in the literature on internationa labor affairs...
...E 1 0 Q I g Q q Q a Q A 6 1 1 0 D O m O O I D Q l I D Q g Q Q O i 6 ~ Q Q 6 0 0 6 0 0 . . . . Q O I ~ I ~ Q W I O i l I O O O O l l O ~ D Q Q Q q Q Q O I . . . . i A Q D Q O O I . . . . O Q O Q Q ~ O 6 6 Q ~ I ~ a Q Q O ~ O a O ~ O O l l O O I Q . . . . . . g ~ O O O O U O Q J ~ O Q ~ BOOK REVIEW American Labor and European Politics Roy Godson / Crane, Russak & Co...
...With the publication of Roy Godson's book, we at last have a detailed study of one period in postwar AFL activity which is written from a viewpoint blessedly free of all the Marxist and dependency-theory ideological baggage of the writers mentioned above...
...The small farm is vanishing, and the experience of great solitudes is harder to come by...
...Revisionist accounts of this period give the William A. Douglas is a labor educator at the American Institute for Free Labor Development, in Washington, D.C...
...As historian, he wants to get an accurate feel for what really went on, what was accomplished, and how it was done...
...Given th closely-balanced strength of the contend ing forces, he speculates that perhaps th, AFL's efforts swung the balance in favor o the West...
...Though still a principal actor in Godson's account, Mr...
...All this sounds very exciting, but it bears no relation to the stodgy everyday world of the working staffs of AFL-CIO sponsored international programs...
Vol. 10 • April 1977 • No. 7
