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What Cowboy Ever Wished to Join a Union? 'Wild West' Industrial Relations before 1914

Department of Economic History, University of New South Wales, PO Box 1, Kensington, NSW 2033

After the Civil War the cowboy came to epitomize the ideology of United States capitalism, an ideology antithetical to collective action by workers to defend and enhance their interests. More tangible factors explaining the relative absence of industrial militancy among ranch workers have been suggested, including the geographical dispersal of a labour force employed in small numbers even on large enterprises, and the pronounced seasonality of employment. To these can be added the youth of most of the ranch workforce, the ensuing transient nature of the job, the diverse social and ethnic origins of participants, the hierarchical nature of work organization and the attractions of the employment. Neverthless, the myth of the cowboy had a pronounced influence on the worker's perception of the employ ment, to the extent that it became more a 'way of life'than a job.

Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 36, No. 3, 319-331 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/002218569403600301


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