In the Wake of the Giant: Multinational Restructuring and Uneven Development in a New England Community

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More About This Textbook

Overview

Based on anthropological fieldwork in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, In The Wake of the Giant has implications for towns and cities across the country and internationally. It traces the history of the Pittsfield region, the U.S. economy, and the tidal wave of multinational corporate restructurings. Comparing communities undergoing restructuring to newly independent states, Kirsch shows how these communities confront for the first time the challenge of directing their own present and future. The turmoil that develops as a result of these changes and the means by which individuals, kin-groups and community voluntary organizations react and adapt are central themes of the book.
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Editorial Reviews

Booknews
Traces the history of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts region, the U.S. economy, and the wave of multinational corporate restructurings. Comparing communities undergoing restructuring to newly independent states, the author shows how these communities confront for the first time the challenge of directing their own present and future. The turmoil that develops as a result of these changes, and the means by which individuals, kin-groups and community voluntary organizations react and adapt are central themes of the book. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780791438275
  • Publisher: State University of New York Press
  • Publication date: 7/1/1998
  • Pages: 146
  • Product dimensions: 6.10 (w) x 9.00 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Table of Contents

List of Tables vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Part I Problems and Issues
1. The Chosen Community 3
The Community and its Setting 3
2. Community and Context 7
The Growth of the American City 8
3. Restructuring, Megaindustrialization, and the Expansion of the Service Sector 11
Megaindustrialization and Merger Movements 14
Constructing Consensus in Late Capitalism 18
Part II A New England Community in Crisis
4. The Region and Industry in History 23
Early Industrialization and New England Social Structure 23
Relations of Work and Unemployment 27
The Region after World War II 28
Trade Union Erosion 29
Notes on the Service Sector 32
5. The Pittsfield Community 35
Early Industry in Pittsfield 35
General Electric and the Growth of a Company Town 37
Industrial Decline and the Issue of Development 38
Community Effects of Economic Restructuring 39
Voluntary Associations, Community Organization, and Corporate Morality 46
The Corporation and the Community 48
6. Development Strategies 51
Defining Development 51
Development Agencies 53
Development Perspectives 54
The Production of Chaos 55
Development and Ideologies of Economic Growth 57
Native versus Nonnative Views of Development 59
Uneven Development and Relations of Dependency 64
The General Electric Donation 65
Bypasses and Parking Lots 68
Mall Wars 70
Ideology and Community Crisis 73
7. Uneven Development and Community Response 77
Plastics Firms and Uneven Development 77
Kinship, Friendship, and the Entrepreneurial Spirit 79
Firm Ownership and Relations of Work 83
General Electric Plastics 86
Development Efforts and the Plastics Industry 88
Corporate and Community Ideology in the Development of Industry 93
8. Economic Development and Social Responsibility: A Case Study 95
The Health Crisis in Pittsfield 96
The Cost Accounting Approach 99
Community Response and Corporate Responsibility 100
The Social Construction of Science 103
The Structure of Health Administration in Pittsfield 106
Epilogue 111
Notes 119
Bibliography 127
Index 143
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