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Binghamton University

Thunder without lightning : working class discontent in the United States, 1929-1937

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>In nature, thunder cannot exist without lightning. In the political realm, however, the two are separable. Rumblings of discontent can, and often do, occur without the firebolt of revolution.</p><p>The depression of the 1930s was a decade of thunder on the left in the United States. The working class became increasingly conscious of itself and discontented with the existing socio-economic system. The peals were always there, and they often reached crescendos. Yet the full force of the tempest never broke upon America in the thirties. The pages that follow explore the thundering and seek to explain how Franklin D. Roosevelt acted as a lightning rod, helping American capitalism weather the most furious storm of working-class discontent in the twentieth century.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
History
Year
1974

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • McElvaine, Robert S.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Charles B. Forcey
  • Richard M. Dalfiume
  • Melvyn Dubofsky

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:orb.binghamton.edu:dissertation_and_theses-1238

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Binghamton University
Base URL
orb.binghamton.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

McElvaine, Robert S.. Thunder without lightning : working class discontent in the United States, 1929-1937. Dissertation thesis, 1974. https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/232