Confronting Decline: The Political Economy of Deindustrialization in Twentieth-Century New England

by David Koistinen

Overview

“Koistinen puts the ‘political’ back in political economy in this fascinating account of New England’s twentieth-century industrial erosion. First-rate research and sound judgments make this study essential reading.”—Philip Scranton, Rutgers University–Camden

“Well-organized and clearly written, Confronting Decline looks at one community to understand a process that has become truly national.”—David Stebenne, Ohio State University

“Koistinen’s important book makes clear that many industrial cities and regions began to decline as early as the 1920s.”—Alan Brinkley, Columbia University

“Sheds new light on a complex system of enterprise that sometimes blurs, and occasionally overrides, the distinctions of private and public, as well as those of locality, state, region, and nation. In so doing, it extends and deepens the insights of previous scholars of the American political economy.”—Robert M. Collins, University of Missouri

The rise of the United States to a position of global leadership and power rested initially on the outcome of the Industrial Revolution. Yet as early as the 1920s, important American industries were in decline in the places where they had originally flourished.

The decline of traditional manufacturing—deindustrialization—has been one of the most significant aspects of the restructuring of the American economy. In this volume, David Koistinen examines the demise of the textile industry in New England from the 1920s through the 1980s to better understand the impact of industrial decline. Focusing on policy responses to deindustrialization at the state, regional, and federal levels, he offers an in-depth look at the process of industrial decline over time and shows how this pattern repeats itself throughout the country and the world.

A volume in the series Working in the Americas, edited by Richard Greenwald and Timothy J. Minchin
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813054087
Publisher:	University Press of Florida
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Series:	Working in the Americas
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David Koistinen is associate professor of history at William Paterson University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 Deindustrialization in New England 10

2 Retrenchment 26

3 Federal Assistance 67

4 Economic Development 102

5 Small Business Financing in Mid-Twentieth-Century New England 139

6 Small Business Finance and Electronics Spinoff Companies along Route 128 160

7 Responses to Deindustrialization in New England during the Cold War Years 187

8 Conclusions 221

Appendix 1 Rates of Job Creation in Massachusetts and the United States 241

Appendix 2 Cotton Textile Mill Wages 243

Appendix 3 A Contemporary Account of Spinoff Banking at the First National Bank of Boston 245

Notes 247

Bibliography 299

Index 319

Editorial Reviews

Koistinen traces the post–World War I decline of cotton textiles, triggered largely by low-cost southern competition. . . . He incorporates the voices of business leaders, policymakers, and workers themselves.”—Business History Review
 


“Reminds us, first, that history continues far beyond the drama of plant closings, and . . . that looking through a longer lens allows us to view important connections that had remained hidden. Second, as scholars are increasingly exploring firms and the larger business community as historical actors, he demonstrates the power of a political economic analysis.”—Journal of American Studies
 


“Will grow increasingly relevant as globalization and deindustrialization continue to reshape the American economy in the twenty-first century.”—Journal of American History
 


“Challenges commonly held ideas about when and where deindustrialization began, and argues that contemporary responses to industrial decline have a much longer history than scholars have recognized.”—EH-Net
 

From the Publisher