Selig Perlman
Encyclopedia
Selig Perlman was an economist
and labor historian
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
.
(then part of Russia
) in 1888. His father, Mordecai, was a Jewish merchant who supplied yarn and thread to home weavers and was a friend of Maxim Litvinov
's father.
Despite having a strong stutter and being extremely shy, Perlman excelled in the "Cheder
" (the local Jewish religious school), and won a scholarship to attend a state-owned high school (or "gymnasium"). While in high school, he learned Russian
and a number of other European languages, and his teachers introduced him to the work of Georgi Plekhanov
. Thereafter, Perlman became an ardent Marxist
.
He never joined a political party or radical movement, however, and his advocacy remained more theoretical than practical. Perlman graduated in 1905.
As a Jew, Perlman was largely barred from obtaining a higher education in Russia. So he left for Torino, Italy
, to study at the University of Turin
. He came down with bronchitis and transferred to the University of Naples Federico II
, because Naples
had a warmer climate. He studied medicine
, learned Italian
, joined the General Jewish Labor Union
, and spent weekends with other students talking politics, languages, and literature at Maxim Gorky
's home (although Gorky was rarely present for these meetings).
Perlman's paternal grandmother, Anna Blankenstein, had emigrated to the United States
some years earlier and was employed as a dressmaker by the designer Hattie Carnegie
. The American socialist
s William English Walling
and Anna Strunsky
were preparing to travel to Italy. Strunsky, buying dresses for the trip from Carnegie, met Blankenstein -- who told her to look up Blankenstein's "brilliant nephew" in Naples who "knew everything about Russian Marxism".
Walling and Strunsky sought out Perlman in Naples in 1906, who gave them his copy of Das Kapital
and The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (neither of which Walling had read). Walling offered Perlman a job, but he turned it down.
Perlman ran out of money at the end of the school year. Unfortunately, the introduction of weaving plants had caused his father's business to collapse. Walling, meanwhile, had been arrested in Russia for inciting sedition
and (after the intervention of President Theodore Roosevelt
) had returned to the U.S. Perlman wrote to Walling asking for a job, and Walling agreed to provide one.
Perlman arrived in New York City
in early 1908, where he translated various works for Walling. Suffering from depression (which he struggled with periodically throughout his life), Perlman traveled to New Hampshire
to visit relatives, the Shaber family. (He met Eva Shaber at this time, and would later marry her). After his return, he expressed dissatisfaction with his work for Walling. Walling suggested Perlman leave to go study economics
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Perlman arrived in Madison, Wisconsin
in the middle of 1908, and enrolled as junior at the university there. His roommate was David J. Saposs
, later to become a noted historian, and a close friend was Edwin E. Witte
. He enrolled in classes taught by Frederick Jackson Turner
(who, for most of Perlman's undergraduate career, was his mentor as well), John R. Commons
and Richard T. Ely
. Perlman worked at various jobs for a while, including a stint as a factory inspector.
Perlman graduated with a bachelor's degree
in economics in 1910. His undergraduate thesis was on the history of socialism in Milwaukee
.
Perlman then entered the University of Wisconsin–Madison's doctoral program in economics. He became close friends with Edward Morehouse, later a noted economist. About this time, Turner offered to make him a research assistant. Commons also offered him a research assistant slot, working on a history of the American labor movement. Perlman took the position offered by Commons for career reasons (Commons would have been offended had he refused) and because he had already been working in the labor history field. It was Perlman's belief that, by studying the American labor movement, he could generate support for Marx's theories about labor unions.
Although Perlman is often considered a close friend and associate of Commons, the two were not very close. Commons was anti-Semitic
and reacted negatively to Perlman's strong Yiddish
accent and constant poverty. It was Commons' wife, Ella, who championed Perlman to her husband and others. (She even helped Perlman with his English grammar).
It was while working for Commons that Perlman abandoned his Marxist approach to economics. In its place, he developed a theory of self-interest. It was Perlman's belief that workers became alienated from employers because competition forced wages down. Unions formed to protect wages, Perlman argued, did not arise (as Marx believed) from the bourgeoisie
.
From 1911 to 1915, Commons and Turner worked for the federal Commission on Industrial Relations
. Commons brought Perlman along, getting him a job investigating strikes and conducting research for the commission. After nearly being lynched by striking workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts
in 1912, Perlman retreated to the Shaber home in New Hampshire. He began courting Eva Shaber, his second cousin.
In 1912, Perlman married Eva Shaber (d. 1929). Their first son, David, was born in 1920. Their second son, Mark, an economist, was born in 1923. The Perlmans were a deeply religious family, and very active in the local Jewish community
in Madison.
While Perlman continued studying for his doctorate, the financial condition of his family in Poland worsened. His father, mother and younger brother were persecuted by the Russian police, and heavily fined by Russian authorities for having an expatriate in the family. Perlman sought and won a substantial salary increase from Commons, and brought his parents and sibling to the United States. The Perlmans initially settled with family in Woonsocket, Rhode Island
. But, unhappy there, they moved to Madison. To save money, Perlman moved in with his parents.
In 1915, Perlman received his doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
. In revising Ely's work, Perlman removed all references to this theory. The revised manuscript was delivered in 1918. Ely was so angry that he fired Perlman. (The manuscript later became the basis for Perlman's own The History of Trade Unionism in the United States.)
Desperate for income, Perlman tried to obtain a professorial position. He interviewed at Cornell University
and the University of Arkansas
, but anti-Semitic trustees and administrators kept him from winning an appointment at either institution.
Ely blocked him from getting an appointment at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but in the summer of 1918 Ely was removed as chairman of the department of economics. The instigator of the rebellion was Ella Commons, who coordinated a series of promotions, votes and organizational changes which forced Ely out and permitted Perlman to obtain an assistant professor position.
Perlman helped promote institutionalism
and Hegelian historicism
as important theoretical approaches to the study of economics, labor and labor unions.
Perlman's theoretical approach was politically detached and relied heavily on data collection, a model which would dominate labor history well into the 1960s. However, Perlman did show signs of breaking away from the Wisconsin school
's emphasis on organizations. His study of Marx had left him with an understanding of the importance of class in social movements, although his sense of the concept was limited to an economic understanding and not as broad as British labor historian E. P. Thompson
's.
In 1928, Perlman published his most famous work, A Theory of the Labor Movement. Karl Marx
and Vladimir Lenin
had argued that unions too often pursued improvements in wages and working conditions rather than advocating revolution. Intellectuals, it was argued, had to take over labor unions to prevent such bourgeois inclinations. Perlman criticized this theory by arguing that workers in the United States were not, in fact, alienated as they were in Europe. Rather, in the U.S., the source of owner-worker conflict was not capitalism
per se but the downward pressure on wages exerted by a marketplace free from internal tariff
s. Unions formed, Perlman argued, as a means for workers to maintain high wages. It was correct, not an aberration, for unions to focus solely on wages and working conditions, he wrote. In response, Perlman developed the "business unionism" model of labor, where the goals of unions are defined by their members. It was an ingenious and effective critique, and one which had a large impact on the American labor movement.
In time, a chair was named for Commons in the economics department, and Perlman appointed to that position. Perlman taught a number of students who later went on to influential careers as economists, historians and politicians in their own right. One of his most notable students was two-term Wisconsin governor Philip La Follette
. Another was the noted labor historian Philip Taft
.
Perlman also continued to exercise his religious beliefs throughout his academic career. Although his extreme shyness kept him out of university politics or the media, he worked extensively with the university's Hillel Foundation
. And, despite the disparity in their economic views, Perlman became good friends with economist Milton Friedman
.
In 1929, Eva Perlman died. Selig Perlman subsequently married Eva's younger sister, and had two daughters, Eva and Rachel (the latter named for one of John Commons' daughters who had committed suicide in the early 1930s).
At the end of 1958, Perlman turned 70, which was the mandatory retirement age at the university, and he was forced to retire the following June. Perlman received an appointment as a visiting professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
. Earlier that year, he had undergone prostate surgery, which had left him weak. In August, he suffered a stroke
which may have been related to his prior surgery. He lingered for seven days, then died on August 14 1959, aged 70.
Nevertheless, many scholars have questioned Perlman's conclusions. They challenge his conclusion that American workers were not and are not radical.
For these critics, business unionism has not only proven to be a failure but in fact has been supplanted by social movement unionism
in the last six decades. Practitioners of the "new labor history
", in particular, see the role of academics as assisting in the growth and development of labor unions rather than as sort of Marxist Svengali leading it to its doom.
Other critics point out that Perlman's work contains biases not readily apparent. Perlman may have held some racist views (particularly toward Asians
) which limited his understanding of the evolution of the labor movement. It is fairly clear that his concept of class was limited to economics, and did not include race, status, ethnicity, or other sociological factors.
Nevertheless, critics agree that Perlman holds a significant and meaningful place in the development of labor history.
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and labor historian
Labor history (discipline)
Labor history is a broad field of study concerned with the development of the labor movement and the working class. The central concerns of labor historians include the development of labor unions, strikes, lockouts and protest movements, industrial relations, and the progress of working class and...
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
.
Early life and education
Perlman was born in Białystok in Congress PolandCongress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
(then part of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) in 1888. His father, Mordecai, was a Jewish merchant who supplied yarn and thread to home weavers and was a friend of Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Maximovich Litvinov was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet diplomat.- Early life and first exile :...
's father.
Despite having a strong stutter and being extremely shy, Perlman excelled in the "Cheder
Cheder
A Cheder is a traditional elementary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language.-History:...
" (the local Jewish religious school), and won a scholarship to attend a state-owned high school (or "gymnasium"). While in high school, he learned Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and a number of other European languages, and his teachers introduced him to the work of Georgi Plekhanov
Georgi Plekhanov
Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. He was a founder of the Social-Democratic movement in Russia and was one of the first Russians to identify himself as "Marxist." Facing political persecution, Plekhanov emigrated to Switzerland in 1880, where...
. Thereafter, Perlman became an ardent Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
.
He never joined a political party or radical movement, however, and his advocacy remained more theoretical than practical. Perlman graduated in 1905.
As a Jew, Perlman was largely barred from obtaining a higher education in Russia. So he left for Torino, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, to study at the University of Turin
University of Turin
The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
. He came down with bronchitis and transferred to the University of Naples Federico II
University of Naples Federico II
The University of Naples Federico II is a university located in Naples, Italy. It was founded in 1224 and is organized into 13 faculties. It is the world's oldest state university and one of the oldest academic institutions in continuous operation...
, because Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
had a warmer climate. He studied medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, learned Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, joined the General Jewish Labor Union
General Jewish Labor Union
The General Jewish Labour Bund of Lithuania, Poland and Russia , generally called The Bund or the Jewish Labour Bund, was a secular Jewish socialist party in the Russian Empire, active between 1897 and 1920. Remnants of the party remain active in the diaspora as well as in Israel...
, and spent weekends with other students talking politics, languages, and literature at Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
's home (although Gorky was rarely present for these meetings).
Perlman's paternal grandmother, Anna Blankenstein, had emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
some years earlier and was employed as a dressmaker by the designer Hattie Carnegie
Hattie Carnegie
Hattie Carnegie was a fashion entrepreneur based in New York City from the 1920s to the 1960s. She was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary as Henrietta Kanengeiser....
. The American socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
s William English Walling
William English Walling
William English Walling was an American labor reformer and socialist born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the grandson of William Hayden English, the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1880, and was born into wealth. He was educated at the University of Chicago and at Harvard Law School...
and Anna Strunsky
Anna Strunsky
Anna Strunsky Walling was an early 20th Century American author and proponent of socialism. Her work focused on social problems, literature, and the labor movement....
were preparing to travel to Italy. Strunsky, buying dresses for the trip from Carnegie, met Blankenstein -- who told her to look up Blankenstein's "brilliant nephew" in Naples who "knew everything about Russian Marxism".
Walling and Strunsky sought out Perlman in Naples in 1906, who gave them his copy of Das Kapital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
and The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (neither of which Walling had read). Walling offered Perlman a job, but he turned it down.
Perlman ran out of money at the end of the school year. Unfortunately, the introduction of weaving plants had caused his father's business to collapse. Walling, meanwhile, had been arrested in Russia for inciting sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
and (after the intervention of President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
) had returned to the U.S. Perlman wrote to Walling asking for a job, and Walling agreed to provide one.
Perlman arrived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in early 1908, where he translated various works for Walling. Suffering from depression (which he struggled with periodically throughout his life), Perlman traveled to New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
to visit relatives, the Shaber family. (He met Eva Shaber at this time, and would later marry her). After his return, he expressed dissatisfaction with his work for Walling. Walling suggested Perlman leave to go study economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Perlman arrived in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
in the middle of 1908, and enrolled as junior at the university there. His roommate was David J. Saposs
David J. Saposs
David Joseph Saposs was an American economist, historian, and civil servant. He is best known for being the chief economist of the National Labor Relations Board from 1935 to 1940.-Early life:...
, later to become a noted historian, and a close friend was Edwin E. Witte
Edwin E. Witte
Edwin E. Witte was an economist who focused on social insurance issues for the state of Wisconsin and for the Committee on Economic Security. While the executive director of the President's Committee on Economic Security under United States President Franklin D...
. He enrolled in classes taught by Frederick Jackson Turner
Frederick Jackson Turner
Frederick Jackson Turner was an American historian in the early 20th century. He is best known for his essay "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", whose ideas are referred to as the Frontier Thesis. He is also known for his theories of geographical sectionalism...
(who, for most of Perlman's undergraduate career, was his mentor as well), John R. Commons
John R. Commons
John Rogers Commons was an American institutional economist and labor historian at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.-Biography:Born in Hollansburg, Ohio, John R. Commons had a religious upbringing which led him to be an advocate for social justice early in life...
and Richard T. Ely
Richard T. Ely
Richard Theodore Ely was an American economist, author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention in order to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism, especially regarding factory conditions, compulsory education, child labor, and labor...
. Perlman worked at various jobs for a while, including a stint as a factory inspector.
Perlman graduated with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in economics in 1910. His undergraduate thesis was on the history of socialism in Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
.
Perlman then entered the University of Wisconsin–Madison's doctoral program in economics. He became close friends with Edward Morehouse, later a noted economist. About this time, Turner offered to make him a research assistant. Commons also offered him a research assistant slot, working on a history of the American labor movement. Perlman took the position offered by Commons for career reasons (Commons would have been offended had he refused) and because he had already been working in the labor history field. It was Perlman's belief that, by studying the American labor movement, he could generate support for Marx's theories about labor unions.
Although Perlman is often considered a close friend and associate of Commons, the two were not very close. Commons was anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and reacted negatively to Perlman's strong Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
accent and constant poverty. It was Commons' wife, Ella, who championed Perlman to her husband and others. (She even helped Perlman with his English grammar).
It was while working for Commons that Perlman abandoned his Marxist approach to economics. In its place, he developed a theory of self-interest. It was Perlman's belief that workers became alienated from employers because competition forced wages down. Unions formed to protect wages, Perlman argued, did not arise (as Marx believed) from the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
.
From 1911 to 1915, Commons and Turner worked for the federal Commission on Industrial Relations
Commission on Industrial Relations
The Commission on Industrial Relations was a commission created by the U.S. Congress on August 23, 1912. The commission studied work conditions throughout the industrial United States between 1913 and 1915...
. Commons brought Perlman along, getting him a job investigating strikes and conducting research for the commission. After nearly being lynched by striking workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
in 1912, Perlman retreated to the Shaber home in New Hampshire. He began courting Eva Shaber, his second cousin.
In 1912, Perlman married Eva Shaber (d. 1929). Their first son, David, was born in 1920. Their second son, Mark, an economist, was born in 1923. The Perlmans were a deeply religious family, and very active in the local Jewish community
American Jews
American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
in Madison.
While Perlman continued studying for his doctorate, the financial condition of his family in Poland worsened. His father, mother and younger brother were persecuted by the Russian police, and heavily fined by Russian authorities for having an expatriate in the family. Perlman sought and won a substantial salary increase from Commons, and brought his parents and sibling to the United States. The Perlmans initially settled with family in Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Woonsocket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 41,186 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Woonsocket lies directly south of the Massachusetts border....
. But, unhappy there, they moved to Madison. To save money, Perlman moved in with his parents.
In 1915, Perlman received his doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Career
In 1916, Ely hired Perlman as an assistant to review and rewrite Ely's The Labor Movement in America. Ely had theorized that labor unions arose from the values and tradition of Christian socialismChristian socialism
Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel...
. In revising Ely's work, Perlman removed all references to this theory. The revised manuscript was delivered in 1918. Ely was so angry that he fired Perlman. (The manuscript later became the basis for Perlman's own The History of Trade Unionism in the United States.)
Desperate for income, Perlman tried to obtain a professorial position. He interviewed at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
, but anti-Semitic trustees and administrators kept him from winning an appointment at either institution.
Ely blocked him from getting an appointment at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but in the summer of 1918 Ely was removed as chairman of the department of economics. The instigator of the rebellion was Ella Commons, who coordinated a series of promotions, votes and organizational changes which forced Ely out and permitted Perlman to obtain an assistant professor position.
Perlman helped promote institutionalism
Institutionalism
Institutionalism can refer to:* Old Institutionalism: An approach to the study of politics that focuses on formal institutions of government* New institutionalism: a social theory that focuses on developing a sociological view of institutions, the way they interact and the effects of institutions...
and Hegelian historicism
Historicism
Historicism is a mode of thinking that assigns a central and basic significance to a specific context, such as historical period, geographical place and local culture. As such it is in contrast to individualist theories of knowledges such as empiricism and rationalism, which neglect the role of...
as important theoretical approaches to the study of economics, labor and labor unions.
- John R. Commons, the founder of labor economics in America, was not originally a historian. Yet Commons was strongly committed to historical research. "I cannot bring in... an employers' association and a trade union, put them in a glass case... watch them tussle, higgle, settle their differences -- the way Sir John LubbockJohn Lubbock, 1st Baron AveburyJohn Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury PC , FRS , known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was a polymath and Liberal Member of Parliament....
did when he studied bees and ants", he told an audience in 1907. Commons believed that unions must shun radicalism to survive in the United States and used historical illustrations to advance his conviction. Between the world wars Commons's protégés, such as Edwin Witte and Selig Perlman, pushed the historical approach to Industrial Relations even further.
Perlman's theoretical approach was politically detached and relied heavily on data collection, a model which would dominate labor history well into the 1960s. However, Perlman did show signs of breaking away from the Wisconsin school
Wisconsin school
The Wisconsin school in economics was based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and played a prominent role in American economics in the first half of the 20th century. The Wisconsin school was central to institutionalism in the United States, and also played a prominent role in labor economics...
's emphasis on organizations. His study of Marx had left him with an understanding of the importance of class in social movements, although his sense of the concept was limited to an economic understanding and not as broad as British labor historian E. P. Thompson
E. P. Thompson
Edward Palmer Thompson was a British historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He is probably best known today for his historical work on the British radical movements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in particular The Making of the English Working Class...
's.
In 1928, Perlman published his most famous work, A Theory of the Labor Movement. Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
had argued that unions too often pursued improvements in wages and working conditions rather than advocating revolution. Intellectuals, it was argued, had to take over labor unions to prevent such bourgeois inclinations. Perlman criticized this theory by arguing that workers in the United States were not, in fact, alienated as they were in Europe. Rather, in the U.S., the source of owner-worker conflict was not capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
per se but the downward pressure on wages exerted by a marketplace free from internal tariff
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
s. Unions formed, Perlman argued, as a means for workers to maintain high wages. It was correct, not an aberration, for unions to focus solely on wages and working conditions, he wrote. In response, Perlman developed the "business unionism" model of labor, where the goals of unions are defined by their members. It was an ingenious and effective critique, and one which had a large impact on the American labor movement.
In time, a chair was named for Commons in the economics department, and Perlman appointed to that position. Perlman taught a number of students who later went on to influential careers as economists, historians and politicians in their own right. One of his most notable students was two-term Wisconsin governor Philip La Follette
Philip La Follette
Philip Fox La Follette was an American politician from the US state of Wisconsin. He served three terms as the Governor of Wisconsin and helped create the Wisconsin Progressive Party.-Early life and family:...
. Another was the noted labor historian Philip Taft
Philip Taft
Philip Taft was a noted labor historian whose research focused on the labor history of the United States and the American Federation of Labor.POORLY WRITTEN NEEDS MUCH IMPROVEMENT-Early life:...
.
Perlman also continued to exercise his religious beliefs throughout his academic career. Although his extreme shyness kept him out of university politics or the media, he worked extensively with the university's Hillel Foundation
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally...
. And, despite the disparity in their economic views, Perlman became good friends with economist Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...
.
In 1929, Eva Perlman died. Selig Perlman subsequently married Eva's younger sister, and had two daughters, Eva and Rachel (the latter named for one of John Commons' daughters who had committed suicide in the early 1930s).
At the end of 1958, Perlman turned 70, which was the mandatory retirement age at the university, and he was forced to retire the following June. Perlman received an appointment as a visiting professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
. Earlier that year, he had undergone prostate surgery, which had left him weak. In August, he suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
which may have been related to his prior surgery. He lingered for seven days, then died on August 14 1959, aged 70.
Assessment
Perlman is recognized as one of the leading labor historians of the first half of the 20th century. His book, A Theory of the Labor Movement, "left an indelible impression on a generation of teachers and trade union personnel."Nevertheless, many scholars have questioned Perlman's conclusions. They challenge his conclusion that American workers were not and are not radical.
[ Perlman] condemned the role of intellectuals in the US labor movement. They were outsiders, guilty of leading workers astray in pursuit of utopian (that is, communist) visions. Perlman did not believe that people from the working class who became intellectuals would be taken in by the likes of Marx and EngelsFriedrich EngelsFriedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
. Labor's real, "home-grown" or "organic" intellectuals, were pragmatic, accepting of capitalism and content to win for workers as much as they could gain within its framework. But Perlman was profoundly wrong.
For these critics, business unionism has not only proven to be a failure but in fact has been supplanted by 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...
in the last six decades. Practitioners of the "new labor history
New labor history
New labor history is a branch of labor history which focuses on the experiences of workers, women, and minorities in the study of history. It is heavily influenced by social history....
", in particular, see the role of academics as assisting in the growth and development of labor unions rather than as sort of Marxist Svengali leading it to its doom.
Other critics point out that Perlman's work contains biases not readily apparent. Perlman may have held some racist views (particularly toward Asians
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
) which limited his understanding of the evolution of the labor movement. It is fairly clear that his concept of class was limited to economics, and did not include race, status, ethnicity, or other sociological factors.
- Selig Perlman, himself an immigrant and a labor historian in the pioneering "Wisconsin school" of historiography, praised the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: "Without it," he wrote in The History of Trade Unionism in the United States (1922), "the entire country might have been overrun by Mongolian labor and the labor movement might have become a conflict of races instead of one of classes." These theoretical blinders, critics argue, led Perlman to focus on grand theories about the rise of labor unions rather than to document and analyze the broader social, cultural and economic trends at work in history.
Nevertheless, critics agree that Perlman holds a significant and meaningful place in the development of labor history.
Memberships
Selig Perlman was notorious for never attending university meetings, or participating in professional or academic conferences. He never held any memberships in professional organizations.Solely authored books
- A History of Trade Unionism in the United States. New York: Macmillan, 1922.
- Lectures on Capitalism and Socialism. A.L. Riesch, ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976. ISBN 0299067807
- A Theory of the Labor Movement. New York: Macmillan, 1928.
Co-authored books
- Commons, John R. and Perlman, Selig. The Economics of Collective Action. Kenneth H. Parsons, ed. New York: Macmillan, 1950.
- Commons, John R., et al. A History of Labor in the United States. Vols. 1-4. New York: Macmillan, 1918-1935.
Solely authored articles
- "The Basic Philosophy of the American Labor Movement." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 274 (March 1951).