This dissertation takes a detailed look at the history of cooperation between the labor and environmental movements in the United States between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s. It also looks at the nature of the relationship between rank-and-file workers, union activists, and environmental activist. In doing so it has four main objectives. First, it shows that relationships between the labor and environmental movements and more broadly between workers and environmentalists are far more complex than popular perceptions suggest. Second, it examines the emergence and demise of coalitions between workers and environmentalists and between the labor and environmental movements from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. Third, the dissertation argues that while cooperation between the labor and environmental movements created a window of opportunity for the development of cross-class alliances, these alliances had important limitations. Far more compelling was the simultaneous emergence of what can be referred to as "working-class environmentalism." Finally, in highlighting the significance of non-economic issues, such as health, safety, working conditions, the energy crisis, and the environment, the dissertations argues for a more nuanced understanding of post-1960s labor history.
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