
Rich People's Movements
Grassroots Campaigns to Untax the One Percent
Isaac Martin(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 19. February 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
298 pages
978-0-19-938999-5 (ISBN)
Description
On tax day, April 15, 2010, hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets with signs demanding lower taxes on the richest one percent. But why? Rich people have plenty of political influence. Why would they need to publicly demonstrate for lower taxes-and why would anyone who wasn't rich join the protest on their behalf?
Isaac William Martin shows that such protests long predate the Tea Party of our own time. Ever since the Sixteenth Amendment introduced a Federal income tax in 1913, rich Americans have protested new public policies that they thought would threaten their wealth. But while historians have taught us much about the conservative social movements that reshaped the Republican Party in the late 20th century, the story of protest movements explicitly designed to benefit the wealthy is still little known. Rich People's Movements is the first book to tell that story, tracking a series of protest movements that arose to challenge an expanding welfare state and progressive taxation. Drawing from a mix of anti-progressive ideas, the leaders of these movements organized scattered local constituencies into effective campaigns in the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and our own era. Martin shows how protesters on behalf of the rich appropriated the tactics used by the Left-from the Populists and Progressives of the early twentieth century to the feminists and anti-war activists of the 1950s and 1960s. He explores why the wealthy sometimes cut secret back-room deals and at other times protest in the public square. He also explains why people who are not rich have so often rallied to their cause.
For anyone wanting to understand the anti-tax activists of today, including notable defenders of wealth inequality like the Koch brothers, the historical account in Rich People's Movements is an essential guide.
Isaac William Martin shows that such protests long predate the Tea Party of our own time. Ever since the Sixteenth Amendment introduced a Federal income tax in 1913, rich Americans have protested new public policies that they thought would threaten their wealth. But while historians have taught us much about the conservative social movements that reshaped the Republican Party in the late 20th century, the story of protest movements explicitly designed to benefit the wealthy is still little known. Rich People's Movements is the first book to tell that story, tracking a series of protest movements that arose to challenge an expanding welfare state and progressive taxation. Drawing from a mix of anti-progressive ideas, the leaders of these movements organized scattered local constituencies into effective campaigns in the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and our own era. Martin shows how protesters on behalf of the rich appropriated the tactics used by the Left-from the Populists and Progressives of the early twentieth century to the feminists and anti-war activists of the 1950s and 1960s. He explores why the wealthy sometimes cut secret back-room deals and at other times protest in the public square. He also explains why people who are not rich have so often rallied to their cause.
For anyone wanting to understand the anti-tax activists of today, including notable defenders of wealth inequality like the Koch brothers, the historical account in Rich People's Movements is an essential guide.
Reviews / Votes
"...deeply engages questions about the causes and consequences of movements and brings into sharp focus an influential set of movement campaigns that scholars have ignored... It is must read for anyone wanting to understand the causes and consequences of movements and their campaigns as well our current political predicament." -- MobilizationMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
511 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-938999-5 (9780199389995)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
10/2013
Oxford University Press Inc
€71.50
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
09/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€15.49
Available for download

E-Book
08/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€13.49
Available for download
Person
Isaac William Martin is Professor of Sociology at the University of California-San Diego. He is the author of The Permanent Tax Revolt: How the Property Tax Transformed American Politics.
Content
Preface ; Introduction: The Riddle of Rich People's Movements ; Chapter One: The Revolution of 1913 ; Chapter Two: Populism against the Income Tax ; Chapter Three: The Sixteenth Amendment Repealers ; Chapter Four: The Most Sinister Lobby ; Chapter Five: The Power of Women ; Chapter Six: The Radical Rich ; Chapter Seven: Strange Bedfellows ; Chapter Eight: The Temporary Triumph of Estate Tax Repeal ; Conclusion: The Century of Rich People's Movements