Small dealers and worthy men: the politics of scale from Bryan to Nader

The proposed research investigates the relationship between democratic culture and economic scale in the United States since 1900. How did a people steeped in the fiercely individualistic mythology of the frontier, and embedded in a culture powerfully infused by democratic principles, adjust to the large scale and great complexity of the modern industrial economy? This question is fundamental to any understanding of twentieth-century American history, but from the present vantage point-in the wake of the 2008-9 financial crisis-the need to answer it is, perhaps, more urgent than ever. In our age of 'too big to fail' banks there is a pressing need for a greater historical understanding of what I term 'the politics of scale'.

This project addresses the problem of scale in modern US history through a series of biographically-anchored and chronologically-ordered case studies. Each of these studies is based on a key individual whose political modus operandi was premised upon antipathy to concentrated economic power. It begins with the turn-of-the-century global travels of agrarian populist William Jennings Bryan, and ends with consumer advocate Ralph Nader's crusades against General Motors and other auto manufacturers in the 1960s. Two things connect Bryan to Nader, and to all the other figures and wider movements on which this study is based. The first is that they shared a conviction that large-scale economic power is incompatible with American democracy, especially when that power is concentrated in the hands of a few big corporations. The second is that they showed themselves capable of politically engaging, and on occasion mobilising, large swathes of the American people in their various crusades against the size and influence of big business. The purpose of the research is not to establish whether individual politicians succeeded or failed, but through case studies to illuminate more widely how twentieth-century Americans navigated and came to terms with the politics of scale.

The principal outcome of the project will be a book manuscript setting out a new way of mapping and understanding the politics of scale in American history. This will be of direct use to academics, students, and others eager to understand the contours of modern US history; more indirectly, through its influence on its readers and as a result of the dissemination activities built-in to the design of the project, it will contribute to an awareness of the complexity of modern American political culture. In a larger sense still, perhaps, the research proposed here can be seen as part of a broader effort, in which generations of US historians have been involved, to understand and explain the awkward relationship between America's fiercely populist political culture on the one hand, with its marked suspicion of concentrated power, and, on the other hand, its status as the world's most prototypically capitalistic nation, its most aggressive champion and exporter of corporate culture. These are important matters for historians to probe, but of course they also resonate in our contemporary politics, and not only in Britain and the United States.

The research will take place from Feb.-Oct. 2012 and will pay for a one-week visit to the Library of Congress, where archival work for the manuscript will be completed, and for relief from teaching so that the researcher can devote the bulk of his efforts to writing. In addition it incorporates dissemination, to make historians and other academics aware of the research findings, and impact activities-including a blog, a workshop on the politics of scale for political activists in the South Yorkshire region, and a public event with the involvement of one or more think-tanks-to communicate, and create opportunities to interact with, individuals and groups outside academia.

The project has been designed so that it will engage with non-academic as well as academic beneficiaries. The topicality of the subject matter, with its connection to current political issues, presents opportunities for impact which the project will exploit.

Who might benefit?

Policymakers and members of the think-tank community, including, for example, the IPPR, The Fabian Society, and Policy Exchange.

Political activists and campaigners based in the Sheffield region.

The wider public in general, in the USA as well as in the UK and elsewhere.

How might they benefit?

The proposed research is of potential benefit to policymakers and think-tank members. They might profit from encountering historically-informed research related to a topic-the politics of scale-which clearly resonates with ongoing policy debates, such as those over banking reform financial regulation, and the place of the City of London the UK's economy, political life, and culture. Groups such as the IPPR and Policy Exchange are currently engaged in debating these issues, but in ways largely (and perhaps necessarily) divorced from the sort of historical analysis in which I engage. The proposal here, therefore, is to hold an event designed to give policymakers and think-tank members the opportunity to be introduced to and discuss the historical contexts of the present-day politics of scale, and to do so in a way that also involves the public. The event will take place in September or October 2012.

A second set of potential beneficiaries are political activists and campaigners. The idea here is that historians and activists can learn from one another by discussing the ways in which the politics of scale shape their practice, assumptions, and activities. Recognising this, the project incorporates a workshop, to be held in Sheffield in September or October 2012, precisely to permit participants in these groups to reflect on the relationship between political commitments of various kinds and the politics of scale. Many social movements and political groupings exploit the politics and language of scale either to legitimate their activity in some form, or to articulate the mode of politics in which they are engaged. The workshop will explore this topic collaboratively through a series of themed roundtable discussions. The format will be similar to that adopted by my colleague, Dr. Mike Foley, for the workshop he has organised on 'The History of Activism in Sheffield', which will be held in September 2011. In this way my event will build on and further develop the CSDC's strong existing relationships with political activists in the Sheffield region.

The project has also been designed to reach and engage with members of the public. The book produced by the research will be tailored primarily to academic readers but its topical subject matter and biographical structure will lend it a wider appeal, raising the likelihood of its being noticed and read by non-academic readers. It will be published by a leading press-Johns Hopkins-whose resources will enable it to market and distribute the book worldwide, as well as in the book's biggest potential market, the USA. Accordingly, as the project nears completion I will explore with Johns Hopkins possibilities for US-based book talks and author events, including media appearances, for instance on National Public Radio. This will enable politically-engaged members of the public to develop a more historically-informed sense of the significance of the politics of scale in US history, in this way nourishing intellectual and cultural life. I will build on this further by writing a monthly blog (to which readers will be able to respond). This will be linked from the CSDC website. The blog will explain the significance of the research and comment in a lively and historically-minded way on the politics of scale in contemporary political affairs.