Uprising
How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street
By John Nichols
(Nation Books, Paperback, 9781568587035, 208pp.)
Publication Date: February 2012
Categories: General
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The protest movement that captivated the nation and paved the path for Occupy Wall Street. More than 100,000 public employees, teachers, students, and their allies descended on the capital in Madison, Wisconsin after Governor Scott Walker announced his plan to eliminate the right of public sector employees to unionize. The struggle (and the Democratic caucus’ escape to Indiana in order to prevent a quorum from being reached) elicited extensive national media coverage and debate—as well as enormous grassroots support for protestors. Uprising provides an anatomy of the event and its implications for the political future of the nation. As state legislatures across the US (in Ohio and New Hampshire, to name a few) take up union busting measures, Nichols shows how the Wisconsin case is a blueprint for progressives around America who’ve had enough. He also explores how Wisconsin protesters organized and inspired the Occupy Wall Street movement.
John Nichols is The Nation’s Washington correspondent and the Associate Editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. He has covered seven presidential races and reported from two-dozen countries. The author or coauthor of eight books on media and politics Nichols delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Congress of the International Federation of Journalists in Athens and addressed the 2009 Global Forum on Freedom of Expression in Oslo. He lives in Madison, WI and Washington DC.
KIRKUS
“An engrossing, informative take on the mass demonstrations that broke out in Wisconsin in early 2011…. [T]his book is well researched and full of keen insights about the state of organized labor and the power of protest…. Nichols is a capable and energetic narrator with a reporter’s knack for getting to the heart of the matter….Richly detailed and inspiring—worth reading for anyone interested in organized labor, civil disobedience or the spirit of Wisconsin.”
"John Nichols recognized right away that the fight in Wisconsin was about a lot more than one state. It was the fight we had all been waiting for, the one where people say 'We have had it!' John didn't just tell us what was happening in Wisconsin. He told us that what was happening in Wisconsin could happen anywhere."
Rev. Jesse Jackson
“I have such respect for the way John Nichols gets into a story, with his sense of history, his broad perspective and his passion for telling the stories of real people involved in real struggles. That’s what he has brought to the story of the Wisconsin struggle, and of the renewal of labor and social justice movements in America.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers“We will look back at 2011 as the moment we started the march to a more perfect union—a resurgence of the labor and social justice movements fighting for economic dignity and fairness for all. No one recounts this with as much insight and passion as John Nichols.”
Shepherd Express (Milwaukee)
“One of the most inspiring aspects of Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, From Madison to Wall Street (Nation Books) is the reporting from Ground Zero of last year’s protests. Author John Nichols…gives a more positive, exuberant and truthful picture of what happened than the view through the slanted lens of the mainstream media….Uprising is a strong antidote to local TV newscasters who painted the protesters as an unruly mob rather than citizens united against policies that might leave us in a poorer country than the one we thought was our birthright.”
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