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Jean-Christian Vinel, *The Employee: A PoliticalHistory*, University of Pennsylvania Press (2013).In the present age of temp work, telecommuting, and outsourcing, millionsof workers in the United States find themselves excluded from the categoryof "employee"—a crucial distinction that would otherwise permitunionization and collective bargaining. Tracing the history of the termsince its entry into the public lexicon in the nineteenth century,Jean-Christian Vinel demonstrates that the legal definition of "employee"has always been politically contested and deeply affected by competingclaims on the part of business and labor. Unique in the Western world,American labor law is premised on the notion that "no man can serve twomasters"—workers owe loyalty to their employer, which in many cases isincompatible with union membership.*The Employee: A Political History* historicizes this American exceptionto international standards of rights and liberties at work, revealing alittle known part of the business struggle against the New Deal. Early on,progressives and liberals developed a labor regime that, intending torestore amicable relations between employer and employee, sought toinclude as many workers as possible in the latter category. But in the1940s this language of social harmony met with increasing resistance frombusinessmen, who pressed their interests in Congress and the federalcourts, pushing for an ever-narrower definition of "employee" thatexcluded groups such as foremen, supervisors, and knowledge workers. Acultural and political history of American business and law, *TheEmployee* sheds historical light on contemporary struggles for economicdemocracy and political power in the workplace.*Jean-Christian Vinel* teaches American history at Université Paris-Diderot.Full Description, Table of Contents, andMore&#60;http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15144.html&#62;336 pages | 6 x 9Hardcover | ISBN 978-0-8122-4524-0 | $47.50s | £31.00Ebook | ISBN 978-0-8122-0923-5 | $47.50s | £31.00A volume in the Politics and Culture in ModernAmerica&#60;http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/series/POC.html&#62;