The labor injunction and peonage—how changes in labor laws increased inequality during the Gilded Age. Issue 1 (8th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stelzner, Mark
• Is Part Of: Journal of post Keynesian economics. Volume 42:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 114
• Page End: 143
• Publication Date: 2019-02-08
• Subjects: Inequality -- strikes -- labor laws; B15 -- J50 -- K00; 330.15
• DOI: 10.1080/01603477.2018.1521290
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-3477

Abstract

Abstract: In this article, I seek to fill a gap in the literature by analyzing how central changes in labor laws shaped intrafirm power dynamics and thus income inequality during the Gilded Age and Progressive and New Eras. For the North, I look at the increasing activism of courts, to the detriment of many state and local legislatures, in creating and expanding the use of the labor injunction. For the South, I look at how the states, supported by the courts, created a system of peonage that directly affected large portions of southern labor and lasted well into the 20th century.