The Unions and the Red Scare. Can McCarthyism be held Responsible for the Dwindle of the US-American Labor Movement?

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2013 im Fachbereich Amerikanistik - Kultur und Landeskunde, Note: 2,7, Technische Universität Chemnitz (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), Veranstaltung: American Society, Culture and Politics, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The second Red Scare, or the Great Red Scare, which had been mostly introduced and carried out by Senator Joe McCarthy, took place between 1947 and 1957. With the aid of radical measurements such as interrogations, witch hunts and accusations of not only organisations and individuals with high responsibility jobs but also ordinary working people, the US government aimed to seek out the inner enemy of the nation: the Communists. It spreaded out into every corner of the United States, be it the film industry, the government, academics and also into work-related institutions like labor unions, on which this paper is going to concentrate exclusively. As to that, this paper is going to analyse inhowfar this temporary outbreak of hatred against Communists contributed to the ongoing decline of the labor movement which is nowadays said to be weak in strike power and proper visions. The topic is, forasmuch, special in considering its contemporary relevance.