In the Wake of the Giant: Multinational Restructuring and Uneven Development in a New England Community(SUNY series in the Anthropology of Work)

Contrasting "native" and "outsider" points of view, this book explores the contemporary realities of work, development and redevelopment in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a New England community undergoing rapid industrial restructuring.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Part I Problems and Issues 1. The Chosen Community The Community and its Setting 2. Community and Context The Growth of the American City 3. Restructuring, Megaindustrialization, and the Expansion of the Service Sector Megaindustrialization and Merger Movements Constructing Consensus in Late Capitalism Part II A New England Community in Crisis 4. The Region and Industry in History Early Industrialization and New England Social Structure Relations of Work and Unemployment The Region after World War II Trade Union Erosion Notes on the Service Sector 5. The Pittsfield Community Early Industry in Pittsfield General Electric and the Growth of a Company Town Industrial Decline and the Issue of Development Community Effects of Economic Restructuring Voluntary Associations, Community Organization, and Corporate Morality The Corporation and the Community 6. Development Strategies Defining Development Development Agencies Development Perspectives The Production of Chaos Development and Ideologies of Economic Growth Native versus Nonnative Views of Development Uneven Development and Relations of Dependency The General Electric Donation Bypasses and Parking Lots Mall Wars Ideology and Community Crisis 7. Uneven Development and Community Response Platics Firms and Uneven Development Kinship, Friendship, and the Entrepreneurial Spirit Firm Ownership and Relations of Work General Electric Plastics Development Efforts and the Plastics Industry Corporate and Community Ideology in the Development of Industry 8. Economic Development and Social Responsibility: A Case Study The Health Crisis in Pittsfield The Cost Accounting Approach Community Response and Corporate Responsibility The Social Construction of Science The Structure of Health Administration in Pittsfield Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Max H. Kirsch teaches anthropology at Oberlin College. He is past Associate Dean of the Graduate Faculty of Social and Political Science at the New School for Social Research in New York.

Review :
"In the Wake of the Giant is a remarkable book. Much of the anthropology now being done has fallen into the trap of a less thoughtful postmodernism-concentrating more on textuality and the emotional states of individuals, without any realization that these secondary states are derived from historical and economic, as well as linguistic and psychical processes. Kirsch manages to combine the historical and economic with the individual perspectives brilliantly. "One of the outstanding features of the book is its readable style. It is very well-written, with an excellent narrative feel." - Richard Feldstein, Rhode Island College