In Dubious Battle: Key Terms and Concepts

The symbol of the IWW (nicknamed the "Wobblies").

Agitator: Someone sent to stir up interest in or organize a strike.  In the novel, Mac is an agitator as he is sent by the Party to get the men in Torgas Valley angry enough to strike for higher wages.

Scab: Someone who agrees to work in place of a striking worker.  Scab workers are employed in order to defeat the purpose of a strike.  In the novel, the strikers sneak off into the orchards to stop scab workers from picking the crops.  If scabs are successful in completing their work, it eliminates the strikers' leverage because the employer's operations are no longer threatened.

Migrant workers:  The workers depicted in the novel are migrant workers, meaning they travel from one place to the other to do seasonal, agricultural labor, such as picking crops until the work is done.  Migrant workers in the 1930s were typically immigrants to the United States or Americans coming from Oklahoma and the central plains who had lost their homes and farms due to the catastrophes of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.

IWW/Wobblies: IWW stands for the Industrial Workers of the World, an international union which achieved the height of its membership and power in the early 1920s.  Colloquially, they were known as the Wobblies and were primarily focused on promoting the interests of the world's growing class of industrial workers.  A subgroup, the Agricultural Workers Organization (AWO), was instrumental in improving the working conditions of migrant agricultural workers in the early twentieth century.  In the United States, both government officials and employer organizations combated the IWW's influence with violence and political oppression.  The IWW fought back with what were considered heavy-handed tactics.

The Party/Reds/Radicals/Bolshevik: References to the Communist Party.  Although Steinbeck never explicitly states that the Party in In Dubious Battle is the Communist Party, the lingo used by the Party members (comrades) and the names that the townspeople use against Mac and Jim (reds) are all references to the Communist Party.

Growers' Association: The entity in the novel that controls working conditions and wages paid to migrant workers.  Mr. Bolter appears as the physical representative of the association and tries to broker a deal but also reminds the strikers of the power of the association by threatening physical force to end the strike.

Sympathizer: Someone who is not officially a member of the Party, but believes in the cause enough to provide supplies and money to Party members.  When Mac brings Jim to Torgas Valley, he shows him a list of sympathizers in the area.  Al, proprietor of Al's Lunch Wagon, is one of the sympathizers on the list, so Mac and Jim head there for a free dinner. When Dick arrives in the Torgas Valley, Mac hands him the list of sympathizers and Dick is in charge of contacting the sympathizers and making arrangements to keep the strike camp stocked with food and other supplies.

Group-men: The idea that a mob becomes an entirely new entity with its own characteristics that differ greatly from the features of the individuals that comprise the group. This idea is discussed by Doc Burton through a conversation with Mac.  (See "Collective Behavior/Group Man/Phalanx Theory" under Major Themes for additional discussion.)