Labor Unions as a Factor in a Caring Democracy

Led by the work of Joan Tronto, there has arisen a growing body of literature in the feminist political theory of care. That literature gestures toward how to evolve current policies and practices into an attainable caring democracy that is responsive to the needs of its constituency. However, care political theory has largely overlooked a role for labor unions. Jane Addams wrote extensively about labor, beginning prior to her entrance into public life. Addams, who some consider a forerunner of modern care theorists, offers an ethical vision of social democracy that is not only caring but achieved in large part through the work of collective bargaining organizations. This chapter interrogates Addams’s relationship to labor unions, including both her advocacy and critique. The analysis pays particular attention to how Addams juxtaposes labor unions with her vision of democracy, as witnessed in her work on the 1894 Pullman Strike and elsewhere. Next, that vision is compared with Tronto’s notion of caring democracy, concluding with a few suggestions for further exploration on how labor organizing might play a more vital role in theorizing about a caring society.