National Labor Relations Board and State Autonomy

• In Event: 312 - Regular Session. Labor/Labor Movements: Labor Movements in Global, State and Local Contexts

Abstract

The position and role of ‘the state’ vis-à-vis social classes in capitalist societies raises questions that have long animated social scientific research. This study makes a foray into the discussion and develops state and class theory through analysis of an important historical case. Using primary archival materials, and other sources, we examine the question of state autonomy from class forces by looking at the formation of the US National Labor Board, specifically the LA regional board in 1933-34. This major state administrative agency, comprised of representatives from industry, labor, and the public, was tasked as a “neutral” mediator between capital and labor, independent of them, and expressly created to help forge industrial cooperation in a period of intense economic crisis and class conflict. The question, then, is does this agency and its personnel exemplify state autonomy, a force independent from class influence, as state managers and state autonomy scholars would argue? To appraise this question, we examine state managers’ decision-making regarding the selection of board personnel as well as how class forces interact with the emergent state agency. We then assess the success of state autonomy in its efforts to mediate class conflict and modify the behavior of capital and labor. In sum, we conclude that state agencies and managers, in this case, are not autonomous from class influence, with class forces often exerting direct influence over time and through various mechanisms and access points.

Author

• Judith Stepan-Norris, University of California-Irvine