Date of Award

5-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Theology

Department

Theology

First Advisor

William McDonough

Second Advisor

Claire Bischoff

Department/School

Theology

Abstract

When contemporary admirers of Dorothy Day reflect on her work and that of the Catholic Worker, what usually comes to mind are the Movement's charitable works for the poor and its pacifism. However, during the early years of the Movement many Catholic Workers, including Day, were heavily involved in the labor movement and in advocating for workers' rights. Day, a fierce anti-capitalist, saw the struggle for the liberation of workers as central to the Catholic Worker's mission and rooted her labor activism in a Catholic theology of unionism. In this paper I explore Dorothy Day’s unionism and how Day understood the labor movement theologically. I also put Day's theology of unionism in conversation with other contemporary theologians and specifically highlight Day's belief that the dignified work demanded by the social teaching of her Church requires that workers own the means of production.

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