Description
Book SynopsisMark Jay and Philip Conklin use a Marxist framework to tell a sweeping story of Detroit from 1913 to the present, outlining the complex socio-political dynamics underlying major events in Detroit's past, from the rise of Fordism and the formation of labor unions to deindustrialization and the city's recent bankruptcy.
Trade Review“
A People's History of Detroit finally allows us to look beyond the mythology of the Motor City, the ruin porn, and the boosterism, and to grasp the dialectic of redevelopment and dispossession, accumulation and abandonment, that has defined its history for a century. Mark Jay and Philip Conklin's book is a model of militant research, recovering the city's traditions of resistance and revealing the staggering human cost behind the hype about the ‘New Detroit.’” -- Alberto Toscano, Reader in Critical Theory, Goldsmiths, University of London
“In this intellectually stimulating, bold, and panoramic treatment of Detroit, Mark Jay and Philip Conklin render in fine detail the processes that produce both tremendous wealth and misery. Their work is a powerful antidote to recurrent narratives of market triumphalism, from Ford's five-dollar day to the postwar promises of the affluent society and the casino capitalism touted during the Archer, Kilpatrick, and Bing years. This book is a much-needed account of Detroit's evolution.” -- Cedric Johnson, author of * Revolutionaries to Race Leaders: Black Power and the Making of African American Politics *
"Jay and Conklin’s narrative is at its most gripping during their account of the revolutionary 1960s and its aftermath. In addition to providing a detailed blow by blow account of Detroit’s 1967 uprising, they also argue – in contrast to most left-liberal narratives of the Great Rebellion – that arson and looting should not be viewed as chaotic side effects in contrast to morally justified political unrest, but as part of a broader direct confrontations against the institutions of private property and the state. . . . . These interrogations of memory and history make Detroit’s past feel like anything but past; as a result the city’s radical history blends with today’s global present." -- Andrew Newman * Antipode *
"Jay and Conklin work backward before working forward. The authors first offer a people’s history of Detroit’s present, subverting chronology to read the resurgence narrative of Detroit against the grain and reveal the erasure of Black Detroit via the myth of Detroit’s 'Golden Age' in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. This allows them, and therefore us, to understand the systemic problems facing contemporary Detroit first, and then uncover their prehistory second, instead of the other way around." -- Hannah Zeavin * Los Angeles Review of Books *
"Equal parts an urban history of a single city and a sweeping theory of capitalism. . . . Through a detailed exposition of one city’s past,
A People’s History of Detroit imagines what a people’s future could look like in Detroit—and in other cities." -- David Helps * Public Books *
"Recommended. General readers through faculty." -- Y. Kiuchi * Choice *
“It is a testament to the clarity and scope of Mark Jay and Philip Conklin’s vision that
A People’s History of Detroit—which went to press prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the onset of the most severe capitalist crisis since the 1930s, and the eruption of an unprecedented nationwide uprising (with global reverberations) against police brutality—is replete with insights for those trying to make sense of these deeply uncertain and troubling times.” -- David B. Feldman * Monthly Review *
"If Mark Jay and Philip Conklin’s
A People’s History of Detroit does not explicitly anticipate the current coronavirus crisis, it certainly explains the contours of its intense and rapid impact." -- Roberta Mock * Times Higher Education *
“A timely volume that deserves a wide readership.” -- John Newsinger * International Socialism *
“
A People’s History of Detroit is that rare book that is both richly detailed and compelling written. . . . The significance of this book, however, is not in the details, but rather in the transferability of the critical interventions they are making in relationship to capitalism, creative destruction, and mythology.” -- Ashley Howard * Journal of American Ethnic History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi
Introduction. Marx in Detroit 1
1. A Tale of One City, c. 1913–2018 17
2. Fordism and the So-Called Golden Years, c. 1913–1960 75
3. The Conditions of the Great Rebellion, c. 1960–1967 129
4. Revolutionaries and Counterrevolutionaries, c. 1967–1973 155
5. Post-Fordism and Mass Incarceration, c. 1974–2013 195
Conclusion. Competing Visions for Detroit's New Era 221
Notes 231
Bibliography 285
Index 299
