All You That Labor

by Snarr, C. Melissa

• ISBN13: 9780814741122
• ISBN10: 0814741126
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-08-22
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

"Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."Mathew 11:28 (AKJV) In the early 1990s, a grassroots coalition of churches in Baltimore, Maryland helped launch what would become a national movement. Joining forces with labor and low-wage worker organizations, they passed the first municipal living wage ordinance. Since then, over 144 municipalities and counties as well as numerous universities and local businesses in the United States have enacted such ordinances. Although religious persons and organizations have been important both in the origins of the living wage movement and in its continuing success, they are often ignored or under analyzed. Drawing on participant observation in multiple cities, All You That Laboranalyzes and evaluates the contributions of religious activists to the movement. The book explores the ways religious organizations do this work in concert with low-wage workers, the challenges religious activists face, and how people of faith might better nurture moral agency in relation to the political economy. Ultimately, C. Melissa Snarr provides clarity on how to continue to cultivate, renew, and expand religious resources dedicated to the moral agency of low-wage workers and their allies.

Author Biography

C. Melissa Snarr is an associate professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
U.S. Poverties and Religious Resources: Movement Context	p. 17
Living Wages: Religious Ideology and Framing for Moral Agency	p. 37
"I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me": Bridge Building and Political Engagement in Racialized Economies	p. 66
"Your Daughters Will Prophesy": Women's Labor in the Movement	p. 102
"Where Two or Three Are Gathered": Ritualizing Moral Agency	p. 122
Conclusion: "Come, Walk with Us, the Journey is Long"	p. 140
Notes	p. 161
Bibliography	p. 187
Index	p. 199
About the Author	p. 205
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