Manufacturing Decline: How Racism and the Conservative

Manufacturing Decline: How Racism and the Conservative Movement Crush the American Rust Belt

For decades, the distressed cities of the Rust Belt have been symbols of deindustrialization and postindustrial decay, their troubles cast as the inevitable outcome of economic change. The debate about why the fortunes of cities such as Detroit have fallen looms large over questions of social policy. In Manufacturing Decline, Jason Hackworth offers a powerful critique of the role of Rust Belt cities in American political discourse, arguing that antigovernment conservatives capitalized onâ€•and perpetuatedâ€•these citiesâ€™ misfortunes by stoking racial resentment.

Hackworth traces how the conservative movement has used the imagery and ideas of urban decline since the 1970s to advance their cause. Through a comparative study of shrinking Rust Belt cities, he argues that the rhetoric of the troubled â€œinner cityâ€ has served as a proxy for other social conflicts around race and class. In particular, conservatives have used images of urban decay to craft â€œdog-whistleâ€ messages to racially resentful whites, garnering votes for the Republican Party and helping justify limits on local autonomy in distressed cities. The othering of predominantly black industrial cities has served as the basis for disinvestment and deprivation that exacerbated the flight of people and capital. Decline, Hackworth contends, was manufactured both literally and rhetorically in an effort to advance austerity and punitive policies. Weaving together analyses of urban policy, movement conservatism, and market fundamentalism, Manufacturing Decline highlights the central role of racial reaction in creating the problems American cities still face.
Country USA
Brand Columbia University Press
Manufacturer Columbia University Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 14 b&w illustrations
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9780231193733
ReleaseDate 2019-09-10

Country	USA
Brand	Columbia University Press
Manufacturer	Columbia University Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	14 b&w illustrations
UnitCount	1
Format	Illustrated
EANs	9780231193733
ReleaseDate	2019-09-10

Manufacturing Decline: How Racism and the Conservative Movement Crush the American Rust Belt

You might also like...