Austin McCoy

Austin McCoy is a historian whose research explores the relationship between transformations in political economy and the evolution of city- and state-based social movements. His dissertation, No Radical Hangover: Progressive Responses to Economic Crises in the Midwest, 1967-1988, analyzes activists’ responses to plant closings and urban fiscal crises in the Midwest during the 1970s and 1980s. Austin recently published a historiographical essay on twentieth century labor history in the journal Social History. He has presented papers at various national conferences including the Organization for American Historians, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the North American Labor History Conference. Austin also writes about issues of race, gender, and culture for Nursing Clio, a blog that connects the practice of history to contemporary issues of gender and medicine.

Current Work:

In his dissertation, No Radical Hangover: Progressive Responses to Economic Crisis in the Midwest, 1967-1988, Austin argues that a multiracial progressive movement emerged to address the energy crisis, deindustrialization, globalization, and economic recession. Progressives' articulations of economic democracy, stemming from the early twentieth century, offered policy alternatives to Keynesian and supply-side economic policy.

Unlike prior studies of early and mid-twentieth century progressivism, No Radical Hangover places black activists and elected officials at the center of the 1970s movement for economic democracy. This approach complicates arguments that emphasize a neoliberal turn in African American politics during the 1970s and 1980s. 

Research Area Keyword(s):

Afroamerican and African studies; history