Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown: The Transformation of the Rust BeltIn this book, Sean Safford compares the recent history of Allentown, Pennsylvania, with that of Youngstown, Ohio. Allentown has seen a noticeable rebound over the course of the past twenty years. Facing a collapse of its steel-making firms, its economy has reinvented itself by transforming existing companies, building an entrepreneurial sector, and attracting inward investment. Youngstown was similar to Allentown in its industrial history, the composition of its labor force, and other important variables, and yet instead of adapting in the face of acute economic crisis, it fell into a mean race to the bottom. Challenging various theoretical perspectives on regional socioeconomic change, Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown argues that the structure of social networks among the cities' economic, political, and civic leaders account for the divergent trajectories of post-industrial regions. It offers a probing historical explanation for the decline, fall, and unlikely rejuvenation of the Rust Belt. Emphasizing the power of social networks to shape action, determine access to and control over information and resources, define the contexts in which problems are viewed, and enable collective action in the face of externally generated crises, this book points toward present-day policy prescriptions for the ongoing plight of mature industrial regions in the U.S. and abroad. |
What people are saying - Write a review
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified
LibraryThing Review
User Review - grheault - LibraryThingComparison of Allentown, PA and Youngstown, OH concludes that Allentown came back and Youngstown has not because of sociological factors. Allentown, everyone pulled together and had a participative ... Read full review
Contents
| 1 | |
The Postindustrial Divergence | 18 |
The Divergence | 38 |
Invoking Social Structure | 69 |
Rebuilding Social | 96 |
Conclusions and Implications | 135 |
and Social Events 17432003 | 155 |
Notes | 171 |
| 185 | |
Acknowledgments | 203 |
Other editions - View all
Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown: The Transformation of the Rust ... Sean Safford No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
action activities actors Allentown and Youngstown American approach associated Bank become began Bethlehem Steel build called capital central challenges chapter cities city's Civic organization Club Committee companies connected Corporation County create crisis differences early economic development efforts elite emerged established ethnic existing face families Figure firms global growth identities immigrants important individuals industrial initial institutions interaction interests Iron kinds labor leaders Lehigh Valley located Mahoning Valley major manufacturing mills National Bank needed networks Ohio participation patterns Pennsylvania percent period plant played political President Press processes production prominent region relationships remain response role rules Second shaped Sheet social structure Society South strike success suggests Table ties tion town transformation turn union United University various workers World York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown: The Transformation of the Rust Belt |
| Author | Sean Safford |
| Edition | unabridged |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press, 2009 |
| ISBN | 0674051300, 9780674051300 |
| Length | 224 pages |
| Subjects | › › › Business & Economics / Development / General Business & Economics / Economic Conditions Business & Economics / Industries / General History / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI) Social Science / Regional Studies Social Science / Sociology / Urban |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |