Raising Expectations and Raising Hell

A veteran labor organizer whose tactics have earned her admiration and condemnation McAlevey pulls no punches. She says of the current moment: The only crisis, the only fiscal cliff in this country that anybody, especially the labor movement, should be talking about is the fiscal cliff that Wall Street forced every American worker to walk off in 2008. And by the way, if you’re poor, you’ve been hanging on that cliff forever. On a branch. That’s the spirit that infuses this memoir/manifesto, which calls for putting the movement back into the labor movement. McAlevey argues that unions must make connections to communities and social justice campaigns if they’re going to renew themselves and transform the economy. After the 2012 election, she said, With our breathing room that we have now, we have to totally reframe the crisis. McAlevey’s prescription is right: raise expectations, and then raise some hell.