The Vision of the Municipal Left
Peter V. Cacchione and New York City, 1930s–1940s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19225653 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kim Phillips-Fein, Kim Phillips‐fein (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 45-74 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Labor Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1547-6715 • E-ISSN: 1558-1454 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/15476715-12271362 |
| OpenAlex | W7162662706 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
This article looks at the career of City Councilman Peter V. Cacchione, a Communist Party member. The article argues that Cacchione’s political success was possible because of the unusual dynamics of New York City in the late 1930s and 1940s: in particular, the reform coalition that made proportional representation possible. It was also driven by the unusual strategies of the Communist Party during the Popular Front period and the wartime years, when the party was able to present itself as closely aligned with the national interest. This conjuncture produced a new vision of municipal politics and a left-wing vision of the city, which lasted into the postwar years, even as Cold War currents doomed proportional representation, Communist council members, and Cacchione himself
Cold war · Communism · Politics · Academic Freedom and Politics · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Urbanization and City Planning
The Repeal of P.R. in New York City—Ten Years in Retrospect
Reds at the Blackboard
No “Graver Danger”
Remapping the American Left
Rethinking the Popular Front
Socialism in our time”
Radicals and the jobless
Political Parties in New York City
From Different Liberal Perspectives
The Party and the Polling Place
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |