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Blue-Collar Conservatism: Frank Rizzo's Philadelphia and Populist Politics (Politics and Culture in Modern America) Paperback – May 7, 2021

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

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The postwar United States has experienced many forms of populist politics, none more consequential than that of the blue-collar white ethnics who brought figures like Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump to the White House. Blue-Collar Conservatism traces the rise of this little-understood, easily caricatured variant of populism by presenting a nuanced portrait of the supporters of Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo.

In 1971, Frank Rizzo became the first former police commissioner elected mayor of a major American city. Despite serving as a Democrat, Rizzo cultivated his base of support by calling for "law and order" and opposing programs like public housing, school busing, affirmative action, and other policies his supporters deemed unearned advantages for nonwhites. Out of this engagement with the interwoven politics of law enforcement, school desegregation, equal employment, and urban housing, Timothy J. Lombardo argues, blue-collar populism arose.

Based on extensive archival research, and with an emphasis on interrelated changes to urban space and blue-collar culture,
Blue-Collar Conservatism challenges the familiar backlash narrative, instead contextualizing blue-collar politics within postwar urban and economic crises. Historian and Philadelphia-native Lombardo demonstrates how blue-collar whites did not immediately abandon welfare liberalism but instead selectively rejected liberal policies based on culturally defined ideas of privilege, disadvantage, identity, and entitlement. While grounding his analysis in the postwar era's familiar racial fissures, Lombardo also emphasizes class identity as an indispensable driver of blue-collar political engagement. Blue-Collar Conservatism ultimately shows how this combination of factors created one of the least understood but most significant political developments in recent American history.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Detailed [and] lucid . . . Lombardo writes Blue-Collar Conservatism with detachment, allowing the words, deeds, and images to speak for themselves. It's one of the great strengths of the book. The writing is straightforward, and the viewpoint seems inarguable. What moves you is the story, even if you know a lot of it already." ― The Philadelphia Inquirer

"The story of Philadelphia in the 1970s is a complicated one, and Lombardo tells it well in an academic book that is not overcrowded with academic jargon. H is well-researched analysis of blue-collar-conservatives, a confounding topic in recent years, is enlightening and bears on our own time as much as Rizzo's." ―
National Review

"Lombardo's ability to blend the social history of Philadelphia with the political history of Rizzo and his rivals is impressive, and it captures the significance of 1970s Philadelphia when situated within the broader story of conservatism." ―
Journal of Urban History

"Based on impressive original research and brimming with fresh insights,
Blue-Collar Conservatism is a must-read book for anyone seeking to understand the origins and impact of 'law-and-order' politics in modern America." ― Kevin M. Kruse, coauthor of Fault Lines: The History of America Since 1974

"This impressive book offers an important new interpretation in that it connects white-ethnic politics in Philadelphia and similar cities to the broader history of conservatism in a nuanced way that goes beyond standard narratives of backlash. Here, Timothy J. Lombardo shows that blue-collar conservatism emerged out of the interaction of culture, identity, neighborhood politics, and the interplay of race with spatial segregation in the city and the metropolitan region." ―
Guian McKee, University of Virginia

"As police commissioner and Philadelphia mayor, Frank Rizzo became a hero to blue-collar white ethnics and a villain to liberals and minorities. In this impressive study of the politics of race and place, identity and security, Timothy J. Lombardo astutely explains Rizzo's appeal and powerfully illuminates the urban roots of populist conservatism." ―
Michael Flamm, Ohio Wesleyan University

Book Description

Blue-Collar Conservatism examines the blue-collar, white supporters of Frank Rizzo—Philadelphia's police commissioner turned mayor—and shows how the intersection of law enforcement and urban politics created one of the least understood but most consequential political developments in recent American history.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Pennsylvania Press (May 7, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812224833
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812224832
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

About the author

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Timothy J. Lombardo
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Timothy J. Lombardo is an author and historian specializing in modern American urban and political history. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he now lives and teaches U.S. history in Mobile, Alabama. His first book is "Blue-Collar Conservatism: Frank Rizzo's Philadelphia and Populist Politics" (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018).

For more, see Lombardo's interview with C-Span's "American History TV:" https://www.c-span.org/video/?444011-2/frank-rizzo-white-working-class-voters

For updates and info, follow Lombardo on Twitter https://twitter.com/TimLombard0

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
    I grew up in Philadelphia in the 1960s and 1970s and had only a limited awareness of the politics in the city at time. So when I came across Timothy Lombardo’s book, Blue Collar Conservatism, I was intrigued. For anyone seeking to understand our current political context, this book is a timely and relevant read. Lombardo does an excellent job tracing to the roots of race and class-based populism that were reflected in the rise of Frank Rizzo and that has continued to the current moment. Well worth it. Highly recommended.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2020
    I grew up in Philly in the 60s-70s, when Rizzo was a demigod in the city. This is an accurate rendition of a complex time and its colorful individuals.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2019
    Excellent scholarship! Extremely interesting read!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024
    Philadelphia city politics.
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2022
    “Blue-Collar Conservatism: Frank Rizzo’s Philadelphia and Populist Politics, by Timothy J. Lombardo, Univ of Penn Press, Philadelphia, 2018. This 314-page hard back examines the political era in Philadelphia when Frank Rizzo rose to power as Chief of Police and later mayor. This is when schools were being desegregated, busing, African Americans were moving into traditionally white neighborhoods, and unions were forced to admit blacks to their apprenticeships. Tensions were high and Rizzo was well known for his law and order tactics. Rizzo opposed public housing, school desegregtion, affirmative action and other liberal programs that were considered unearned advantages for non-whites.

    The author maintains that blue collar conservatism is fundamentally a race driven reaction to desegregation. Liberals had come to power after World War II and set about construction of high rise public housing and urban renewal of sections in disrepair. Philadelphia was well known for its manufacturing, and many blue collar neighborhoods that valued hard work, tradition and family. Most were Irish, Italian, or Polish, Roman Catholic and exclusively white. African Americans were restricted to certain areas. Schools were not segregated but strong neighborhoods that excluded blacks resulted in defacto segregation.

    According to Lombardo, blue collar conservatism arose from two decades of a worsening urban crisis characterized by rising crime, urban rioting, underfunded and inadequate educational infrastructure, widespread un- and underemployment, and urban decay. The problem was compounded by the decline in manufacturing that robbed Philadelphia of its industrial strength. White flight and rising poverty rates contributed.

    Many students attended Catholic parochial schools, but this was the era of rising costs for those schools. Part was due to declining availability of nuns requiring more expensive lay teachers. Rising costs made Catholic schools unaffordable for many. An effort to get funding from the state was ruled unconstitutional.

    New public housing projects were planned but strongly resisted by white neighborhoods. Some were eventually built after a series of fights. Similarly blacks moving into white neighborhoods caused turmoil.

    Rizzo was a native Philadelphian. He rose to Police Commissioner in 1967 and served as mayor from 1972 to 1980. He attempted a charter revision that would have allowed a third term but failed. He ran again unsuccessfully in 1983, and 1987, and was preparing to run in 1991 when he died of a heart attack. He was a Democrat but switched parties to run in 1987.

    MOVE was an extremist organization in Philadelphia. They were armed and disruptive. Rizzo made efforts to limit their activities but it was successor Wilson Goode who authorized the fire bombing of their complex on May 13, 1985, resulting in a fire that consumed a block of row houses.

    Lombardo identifies the blue collar conservatives of Philadelphia as a constituency targeted by Donald Trump in his campaigns.

    This book is a detailed telling of the Philadelphia story. References. Photos. Index.
    3 people found this helpful
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