‘Our conception of non-partisanship means a partisan non-partisanship’: the search for political identity in the American Federation of Labor, 1947–1955

Abstract

This article reconsiders the evolution of political action in the American Federation of Labor between 1947 and 1955 by examining the American Federation of Labor's (AFL's) first overtly political arm, Labor's League for Political Education. It argues that the key dynamic shaping labor's political activities in this crucial period was the tension between a tradition of non-partisanship and the imperatives of an evolving political landscape that made meaningful neutrality impossible. By 1952, decentralization, local autonomy, and non-partisanship had given way to a political identity marked by centralization, national coordination, and partisan alliances.