XVI
INTRODUCTION
by-laws, a set of officers and a treasury, but a conscious
ness of common needs and aims, a common outlook on life,
and a common program for the betterment of their lot. To
employ Professor Hoxie’s terminology, the essence of
unionism is a social philosophy—an interpretation of the so
cial facts and relationships which impinge upon the group
in question, and a solution of the practical problems which
these present. The interpretation mlay be wide or narrow,
explicitly formulated or implicit and ill defined; the pro
gram may concern itself solely with conditions of employ
ment or it may look to the economic and political regenera
tion of society. Some social philosophy, however, more or
less consistent and far-reaching, and some generally ac
cepted scheme of policies and methods, are the sine qua non
of common action.
' This method of approach led Professor Hoxie to a con
ception of unionism which differs in important respects
from the views current in the schools. Others have copi
ously illustrated the structural details and the narrative his
tory of union organizations, have set forth the environ
mental, more especially the economic, factors which have
contributed to union growth and decay, and have told us
much of the social creeds which unions impose upon their
members, but they have had little to say of the human
materials out of which unions are formed or of the mani
fold influences which go to shape trade union beliefs, ideals
and aspirations. Professor Hoxie early focused his at
tention upon union functioning and the habits of thought
which determine union action. Viewed in this way, he
found unionism to be not a single social movement, but an
imperfect fusion of several, no one of which can be ade
quately accounted for in purely economic terms. Shortly
expressed, his analysis of unionism is characterized by
emphasis upon function, the distinction of fundamental
types and a pluralistic causal interpretation.
From a functional standpoint, Professor Hoxie distin-
