Description
Book SynopsisFrom the early twentieth century until the 1960s, Maine led the nation in paper production. The state could have earned a reputation as the Detroit of paper production, however, the industry eventually slid toward failure. What happened? Shredding Paper unwraps the changing US political economy since 1960, uncovers how the paper industry defined and interacted with labor relations, and peels away the layers of history that encompassed the rise and fall of Maine''s mighty paper industry.
Michael G. Hillard deconstructs the paper industry''s unusual technological and economic histories. For a century, the story of the nation''s most widely read glossy magazines and card stock was one of capitalism, work, accommodation, and struggle. Local paper companies in Maine dominated the political landscape, controlling economic, workplace, land use, and water use policies. Hillard examines the many contributing factors surrounding how Maine became a paper powerhouse and then shows
Trade Review
Far from a dry study of the industry, Hillard's highly readable and engaging book features 150 interviews with the workers and mill managers themselves about what happened. Shredding Paper is highly recommended for anyone seeking an understanding of how Wall Street greed ravaged an industry that once made Maine the "Detroit of paper" and how workers organized and fought back.
* Maine AF-CIO *
The idea of good and bad capitalisms, and Hillard's riveting writing on the labor process and labor conflicts, simplifies historiographic and economic debates and makes them entertaining. For these reasons, the book is a useful review of core issues in modern labor history.
* ILR Review *
Michael G. Hillard, a Professor of Economics at the University of Southern Maine, has not only furnished a linear chronicle of neglected labour history. He has also brilliantly demonstrated how the plight of the paper mills of Maine served as a microcosm of rapidly changing markets and values across both the American and international economic landscape. [The book] offers a page-turning, scholarly analysis of a commodity at the centre of supply, demand and the ever-shifting quest to balance prosperity and dignified work.
* The London School of Economics and Political Science *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Detroit of Paper
Part 1: THE RISE OF MAINE'S MIGHTY PAPER INDUSTRY
1. A Rags to Riches Story
2. The Paradoxes of Paper Mill Employment
Part 2: TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP CHANGE IN THE PAPER PLANTATION AND THE RISE OF A NEW MILITANCY, 1960–80
3. The Fall of Mother Warren
4. Madawaska Rebellion
5. Cutting Off the Canadians
Part 3: FINANCIALIZATION, RESISTANCE, AND FOLK POLITICAL ECONOMY
6. Fear and Loathing on the Low and High Roads
7. The High Road Cometh
8. Memory, Enterprise Consciousness, and Historical Perspective among Maine's Paper Workers
Epilogue: Paper Workers' Folk Political Economy versus Neoliberalism
