Red State Revolt ― What the Teachers' Strike Wave Means for Workers and Politics

One of the most comprehensive portraits of a strike wave ever written, an indispensable window into the changing shape of the working class and American politics

After nearly four decades of labor quiescence, the US was hit by a wave of strikes in early 2018. Inspired by the wildcat victory in West Virginia, educators in Oklahoma, Arizona and beyond walked off their jobs to demand increased school funding and better pay. Confounding all expectations, these actions erupted in Republican-dominated states with weak unions, bans on public sector strikes, and electorates that voted for Trump in 2016. With similar movements now emerging in California, Colorado, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, there is no sign that this upsurge will be short-lived.

Red State Revolt is an compelling analysis of the emergence and development of this historic strike wave, with an eye to extracting its main strategic lessons for educators, labor activists, and radicals across the country. A former high school teacher and longtime activist, Eric Blanc embedded himself into the rank-and-file leadership of the walkouts, where he was given access to internal organizing meetings and secret Facebook groups inaccessible to most journalists, populating the book with the voices of the school workers who put their livelihoods on the line.

Eric Blanc is the son of educators, a former high school teacher, and a doctoral student in sociology at New York University. He writes on the labor movement for Jacobin magazine and was one of the few reporters on the ground in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Kentucky during the teachers' strikes. He also writes for Labor Notes, Viewpoint, and Socialist Worker. He is a former member of the California Federation of Teachers, and was involved in fighting for increased wages for teachers and increased public spending on education.