Scholarship on American labor politics has been dominated by the
view that the American Federation of Labor, the leading labor organization
in the early twentieth century, rejected political action in favor
of economic strategies. Based on extensive research into labor and
political party records, this study demonstrates that, in fact the AFL
devoted great attention to political activity. The organization's main
strategy, however, which Julie Greene calls “pure and simple politics, ”
dictated that trade unionists alone should shape American labor
politics. Exploring the period from 1881 to 1917, Pure and Simple
Politics focuses on the quandaries this approach generated for American
trade unionists. Politics for AFL members became a highly contested
terrain, as leaders attempted to implement a strategy that many
rank-and-file workers rejected. Furthermore, its drive to achieve political
efficacy increasingly exposed the AFL to forces beyond its control,
as party politicians and other individuals began seeking to influence
labor's political strategy and tactics.

The recipient of fellowships from the American Historical Association,
the Josephine de Karman Foundation, and the National Endowment
for the Humanities, Julie Greene is Assistant Professor of History at
the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has also taught at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Missouri
at Kansas City. Julie Greene's writings have appeared in Labor History,
Radical History Review, Nebraska History, and Frontiers: A Journal
of Women Studies.