Kim Moody
Encyclopedia
Kim Moody is an American
-born writer on labor who advocates social movement unionism
, a revitalized labor movement of mobilized and militant rank-and-file workers rather than business unionism
structured from the top down and compromised by coziness with corporations.
In the early 1960s Moody was a member of the Young People's Socialist League
and the Students for a Democratic Society
in Baltimore
, Maryland
, writing an SDS position paper on "Organizing Poor Whites" for the organization's Economic Research and Action Project. Within SDS, he was part of the Independent Socialist Clubs and International Socialists
, writing articles and pamphlets on labor.
From the 1970s to the 1980s, Moody served on the staff of Labor Notes
magazine in Detroit, which he helped to found in 1979.
He now resides in the U.K. where he is a senior research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-born writer on labor who advocates social movement unionism
Social Movement Unionism
Social Movement Unionism is a trend of theory and practice in contemporary trade unionism. Strongly associated with the labour movements of developing countries, Social Movement Unionism is distinct from many other models of trade unionism because it concerns itself with more than organising...
, a revitalized labor movement of mobilized and militant rank-and-file workers rather than business unionism
Business unionism
A business union is a description of a particular type of trade union, or of a trade union with particular characteristics. The meaning of business unionism has changed over a period of time. The term is believed to be of American derivation, and has been applied in particular to phenomena...
structured from the top down and compromised by coziness with corporations.
In the early 1960s Moody was a member of the Young People's Socialist League
Young People's Socialist League
The Young People's Socialist League , founded in 1989, is the official youth arm of the Socialist Party USA. The group's membership consists of those democratic socialists under the age of 30, and its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic...
and the Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, writing an SDS position paper on "Organizing Poor Whites" for the organization's Economic Research and Action Project. Within SDS, he was part of the Independent Socialist Clubs and International Socialists
International Socialists
International Socialists is the name of a number of Trotskyist organizations.Most organisations using this name are in the International Socialist Tendency...
, writing articles and pamphlets on labor.
From the 1970s to the 1980s, Moody served on the staff of Labor Notes
Labor Notes
Labor Notes is a non-profit organization and network for rank-and-file union members and grassroots labor activists. Though officially titled the Labor Education and Research Project, the project is best known by the title of its monthly magazine. The magazine reports news and analysis about labor...
magazine in Detroit, which he helped to found in 1979.
He now resides in the U.K. where he is a senior research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire
University of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire is a new university based largely in Hatfield, in the county of Hertfordshire, England, from which the university takes its name. It has more than 27,500 students, over 2500 staff, with a turnover of over £181m...
.
Books
- An Injury to All: The Decline of American Unionism (Verso, 1988)
- Unions and Free Trade: Solidarity vs Competition (Labor Notes, 1992)
- Workers in a Lean World: Unions in the International Economy (Verso, 1997)
- From Welfare to Real Estate: Regime Change in New York City, 1974 to the Present (New Press, 2007)
- U.S. Labor in Trouble and Transition (Verso, 2007)
Additional reading
- Schavione, Michael. "Moody's Account of Social Movement Unionism: An Analysis," Critical Sociology 33 (2007): 279-309.