Examines how ordinary factory workers became unionists and national political participants by the mid-1930s.

Preface; Introduction; 1. Living and working in Chicago in 1919; 2. Ethnicity in the New Era; 3. Encountering mass culture; 4. Contested loyalty at the workplace; 5. Adrift in the Great Depression; 6. Workers make a New Deal; 7. Becoming a union rank and file; 8. Workers' common ground; Conclusion.