Great points here, Shawn. When I read The Bending Cross last year, I kept trying to pinpoint the moment he became radicalized. I think he explicitly embraced socialism while he was in prison for his involvement in the Pullman strike. Socialists visited him in his cell, brought him literature, and actively proselytized him.
But most of his political education was, as you said, learned from his constant contact with working people. He didn't read theory; he read Les Miserables. It was fascinating to see how he "moved left" simply by navigating the worker struggles and inter-union conflicts of his time. When he embraced industrial unionism, he didn't do it because he'd been convinced by intellectuals, but because he saw it as the best path forward for railroad workers.
Great points here, Shawn. When I read The Bending Cross last year, I kept trying to pinpoint the moment he became radicalized. I think he explicitly embraced socialism while he was in prison for his involvement in the Pullman strike. Socialists visited him in his cell, brought him literature, and actively proselytized him.
But most of his political education was, as you said, learned from his constant contact with working people. He didn't read theory; he read Les Miserables. It was fascinating to see how he "moved left" simply by navigating the worker struggles and inter-union conflicts of his time. When he embraced industrial unionism, he didn't do it because he'd been convinced by intellectuals, but because he saw it as the best path forward for railroad workers.