The Impact of the War on Drugs on Union Density, 1973–2022
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10430581 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michele I Naples (0000-0001-8911-5741, College of New Jersey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-21 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Review of Black Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6446 • E-ISSN: 1936-4814 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00346446251385478 |
| OpenAlex | W7125492270 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
The War on Drugs (WoD) notoriously targeted poor people and communities, especially Black and Latinx people. Its negative impact on the formation and defense of unions has only recently been studied. This paper explores the magnitude of the WoD's role in increasing arrests and imprisonment, and its long shadow in probation and parole. It details the way it divided workers by race, and hammered the poor under the guise of fighting drugs. Incorporating unemployment and manufacturing's employment share, the paper shows that the WoD and the dramatic conservative turn it represented contributed substantially to the decline in union density
Civil rights · Economic shortage · Shadow (psychology · Spanish Civil War · Unemployment · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions
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| Highly cited | No |
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