A stimulating study of the political framework and changing goals that have characterized trade unions, this book details how the American labor movement works to reconcile self-interest and social idealism. After reviewing the labor theories of Hoxie and Commons, the author goes on to explain how the American ideal of equality motivated workers to organize in the 1800's in an effort to achieve a secure position in society. Once organized, the failure to recognize the limits of the power of self-interest obliterated the union's purpose and then the union. The new unionism of the twenties revived labor's social mission by expanding the meaning of the union "Community." It brought masses of semi-skilled and unskilled workers under the protection of the union contract.