From Blackjacks To Briefcases

Saps, Blackjacks and Slungshots: A History of Forgotten Weapons

A History of Private Policing in the United States

Private law enforcement and order maintenance have usually been seen as working against or outside of state authority. A History of Private Policing in the United States surveys private policing since the 1850s to the present, arguing that private agencies have often served as a major component of authority in America as an auxiliary of the state. Wilbur R. Miller defines private policing broadly to include self-defense, stand your ground laws, and vigilantism, as well as private detectives, security guards and patrols from gated community security to the Guardian Angels. He also covers the role of detective agencies in controlling labor organizing through spies, guards and strikebreakers. A History of Private Policing in the United States is an overview integrating various components of private policing to place its history in the context of the development of the American state.

Strikes Around the World, 1968-2005

Are strikes going out of fashion or are they an inevitable feature of working life? This is a longstanding debate. The much-proclaimed withering away of the strike in the 1950s was quickly overturned by the resurgence of class conflict in the late 1960s and 1970s. The period since then has been characterized as one of labor quiescence. Commentators again predict the strikes demise, at least in the former heartlands of capitalism.Patterns of employment are constantly changing and strike activity reflects this. The continuing decline of manufacturing in mature industrialized economies is of major importance here (though the global relocation of manufacturing may lead to some relocation of strikes). Simultaneously, we see the growth of disputes in the service sector (the tertiarization of strikes). This is evident particularly in public services, including health care, social care and education, and is accompanied by a feminization of strikes, given the prevalence of women working there. This unique study draws on the experience of fifteen countries around the world: South Africa, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, United States, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Covering the high and low points of strike activity over the period 1968-2005, the study shows continuing evidence of the durability, adaptability and necessity of the strike.