When Wisconsin governor Scott Walker threatened the collective bargaining rights of the state's public sector employees in early 2011, the massive protests that erupted in response put the labor, movement back on the nation's front pages, it was a powerful reminder of a not-so-distant past when the "labor question"-and the power of organized labor-was part and parcel of a century-long struggle for justice and equality in America.Now, as the reverberations from Occupy Wall Street continue to be felt across the nation, thousands upon thousands of activists and citizens believe- or believe again-that the labor movement can, and must, be saved. A wonderfully accessible volume, Labor Rising will deepen readers' understanding of the history that is directly relevant to the economic and political crises working people face today.With a foreword by ALICE KESSLER-HARRIS and an afterword by FRANCES FOX PIVEN, these original contributions from leading labor historians, social critics, and activists make crucial connections between the past and the present. But equally important, Labor Rising also looks forward, asking how we might imagine a different future for all Americans and pointing the way to a revitalized twenty-first-century labor movement.