Introduction: Labor Day in America
Worlds of work: economy and civil society. The industry: Gannett and Knight-Ridder
Detroit: labor and community
A "daily miracle": the life of the workplace
The institutional regulation of labor. Proper channels: U.S. labor law and union-management relations
The path to confrontation: the newspapers' joint operating agreement in Detroit
Extraordinary measures: planning for war
War of position: the 1995 contract negotiations
The spaces of conflict. Worlds collide: the start of the strike
Law and violence: permanent replacements and the control of collective action
Theaters of engagement: state and civil society
Waiting for justice: the return to work and the end of the strike
Governing the workplace: American labor today. Conclusion: a signal juncture.