SHIPYARD WORKERS, NEW ORLEANS, AND U.S. DEMOCRACY

Abstract

This project explores the civic engagement of workers in the Avondale shipyard on the outskirts of New Orleans. Avondale workers earn decent incomes, patronize local businesses, join associations and support those organizations with their leadership, contributions, and civic engagement. This engagement creates the social capital that holds the community together, training people to take an interest in the public good, and driving them to seek political information. As leaders in the community, Avondale workers share that information with family, friends, and fellow workers, and build the sense that they can participate effectively in public life. They are politically engaged, vote at high rates, and participate in democratic life. The workers themselves are clear on where their civic activism comes from – the struggle and victory of securing union representation in the workplace. That struggle was difficult, and it taught workers to intertwine their civic future with that of the community. It also secured the material benefits of income and stability that allowed workers to plan for a lifetime of increasing productivity, income, and generational advancement.