About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherCornell University Press

ISBN-100801435250

ISBN-139780801435256

eBay Product ID (ePID)639886

Product Key Features

Book TitleCapital Moves : Rca's Seventy-Year Quest for Cheap Labor

Number of Pages288 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicLabor & Industrial Relations, United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, De, Md, NJ, NY, Pa), General, Electronics / General, Corporate & Business History

Publication Year1999

IllustratorYes

GenrePolitical Science, Technology & Engineering, Business & Economics, History

AuthorJefferson Cowie

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight32.1 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN98-049784

ReviewsMuch has been written to document and lament the loss of American jobs to cheap labor abroad. Cowie's study of RCA, though, shows that U.S. companies have a long history of seeking out inexpensive labor., The strength of Capital Moves is its narrative, which demonstrates, better than any schematic argument or abstract model could, the persistent logic behind RCA's location decisions.... Its argument is one from which labor can take hope, for it suggests that the strategy of capital relocation is, ultimately, self-undermining., "It does not take long to recognize an excellent book and this is one. With an innovative and successful mix of labor and business history, economic geography, and gender and community studies, Jefferson Cowie writes a complex story of capital migration, class formation and social change."-Frederico Romero. Journal of American History, June 2000, Cowie has provided an extended, detailed example.... His book is a useful step toward a new interpretation of the history of mass production industry in the post-World War Two years., "Cowie has provided an extended, detailed example. . . His book is a useful step toward a new interpretation of the history of mass production industry in the post-World War Two years."--Daniel Nelson, University of Akron. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 2001, Vol. 54, No. 3, "It does not take long to recognize an excellent book and this is one. With an innovative and successful mix of labor and business history, economic geography, and gender and community studies, Jefferson Cowie writes a complex story of capital migration, class formation and social change."--Frederico Romero. Journal of American History, June 2000, This is a very refreshing read, successfully melding the experiences of workers and bosses with wider structural forces. The research is meticulous... and scholars will benefit from the many archival sources Cowie has trawled to excellent effect. This book deserves to be read for many reasons, not least of which is that it really does put flesh on the often rather bare bones of the debates around the local effects of capitalist globalization., "Much has been written to document and lament the loss of American jobs to cheap labor abroad. Cowie's study of RCA, though, shows that U.S. Companies have a long history of seeking out inexpensive labor."-Booklist, "This is a very refreshing read, successfully melding the experiences of workers and bosses with wider structural forces. The research is meticulous . . . and scholars will benefit from the many archival sources Cowie has trawled to excellent effect. This book deserves to be read for many reasons, not least of which is that it really does put flesh on the often rather bare bones of the debates around the local effects of capitalist globalization."-Leslie Sklair, London School of Eonomics and Political Science. Labour/Le Travail, "The strength of Capital Moves is its narrative, which demonstrates, better than any schematic argument or abstract model could, the persistent logic behind RCA's location decisions. . . . Its argument is one from which labor can take hope, for it suggests that the strategy of capital relocation is, ultimately, self-undermining."--Kimberly Phillips-Fein, New Labor Forum. Spring/Summer 2000., It does not take long to recognize an excellent book and this is one. With an innovative and successful mix of labor and business history, economic geography, and gender and community studies, Jefferson Cowie writes a complex story of capital migration, class formation and social change., Jefferson Cowie's important book mobilizes labor history, social history, and gender analysis to challenge conventional conceptions of globalization and transnational capital migration. He traces RCA's factory relocations from the 1930s to the present, both within the United States and into Mexico, exposing the long-standing dynamic of industrial relocation as a response to working-class struggles, and showing how relocation in turn leads inexorably to labor and community resistance in each new locality. This insightful book deserves attention from anyone interested in cross-border organizing.-Ruth Milkman, University of California, Los Angeles|9780801435256|, This book is significant because of its powerful story, innovative methodology, and the challenges and elaborations it offers to contemporary research on industrial restructuring., "Labor historian Jefferson Cowie's book, Capital Moves, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the way 'capital mobility' is enacted on the ground. This important work is a social history in the 'subaltern' tradition."--Rebecca A. Johns, University of South Florida. The Professional Geographer, Vol. 53, No. 1, Feb. 2001, Jefferson Cowie's important book mobilizes labor historysocial history, and gender analysis to challenge conventional conceptions of globalization and transnational capital migration. He traces RCA's factory relocations from the 1930s to the present, both within the United States and into Mexico, exposing the long-standing dynamic of industrial relocation as a response to working-class struggles, and showing how relocation in turn leads inexorably to labor and community resistance in each new locality. This insightful book deserves attention from anyone interested in cross-border organizing., "A conceptually rich and deeply humane book. Jefferson Cowie narrates how industrial workers in two nations and four different communities coped with one company's relentless search for cheap and pliable labor. He is a rare historian who illuminates the future by explaining a vital part of the past."-Michael Kazin, author of The Populist Persuasion: An American History, Capital Moves --based impressively on research about four sites and in two languages--exemplifies the salutary effect of the revival of geography on the social sciences. Cowie's core argument--that in spite of the claimed novelty of globalization, spatial factors long have been critical to the stability of capitalist production--deserves close attention., "Capital Moves: RCA's Seventy-Year Quest for Cheap Labor is not the old familiar tale of deindustrialization as it exists in the popular imagination. . . Cowie insists upon resurrecting the agency of local communities and upon portraying how worker actions affected decisions taken by management, perhaps more than the other way around. Captial Moves is an historically and geographically comparative study of the impact of capital migration on working-class communities."--Joanna B. Swanger, Earlham College. Latin American Research Review, June 2003., "This is a very refreshing read, successfully melding the experiences of workers and bosses with wider structural forces. The research is meticulous . . . and scholars will benefit from the many archival sources Cowie has trawled to excellent effect. This book deserves to be read for many reasons, not least of which is that it really does put flesh on the often rather bare bones of the debates around the local effects of capitalist globalization."--Leslie Sklair, London School of Eonomics and Political Science. Labour/Le Travail, Jefferson Cowie takes us on a remarkable tour of four communities transformed by industrial capitalism. This powerful, original book recasts our understanding of capitalism, labor, gender, and geography. It is a sobering reflection on the possibilities and limits of community in an era of transregional and transnational economic power. Capital Moves is must reading for those who want to understand the forces that have reshaped the American and global economies over the last half century., "This book is a major contribution both to labor and community studies. Examining four communities across seven decades, Cowie reveals larger patterns that would be lost in a cross-sectional study of one community. . . Jefferson Cowie gives historians a model for tracing the histories of these communities as well as for following companies' stories after they depart."--Russell Olwell, Eastern Michigan University. Michigan Historical Review. Fall, 2000, "Capital Moves is a stunningly important work of historical imagination and rediscovery which links the present with the past in a fashion that is exciting and suggestive. Jefferson Cowie has written no 'contribution to the literature,' but instead has reconfigured a huge slice of recent business and labor history. His is one of the most provocative and useful books I have read in many years."-Nelson Lichtenstein, University of Virginia, "Labor historian Jefferson Cowie's book, Capital Moves, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the way 'capital mobility' is enacted on the ground. This important work is a social history in the 'subaltern' tradition."-Rebecca A. Johns, University of South Florida. The Professional Geographer, Vol. 53, No. 1, Feb. 2001, "Much has been written to document and lament the loss of American jobs to cheap labor abroad. Cowie's study of RCA, though, shows that U.S. Companies have a long history of seeking out inexpensive labor."--Booklist, "Cowie presents a bold thesis challenging the orthodoxy of globalization theorists by detailing the history of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in four different locations and times. . . Capital Moves is an essential volume for all those seeking to understand labor in the global economy-present and past."-David Palmer, Enterprise and Society, March 2001, Capital Moves: RCA's Seventy-Year Quest for Cheap Labor is not the old familiar tale of deindustrialization as it exists in the popular imagination.... Cowie insists upon resurrecting the agency of local communities and upon portraying how worker actions affected decisions taken by management, perhaps more than the other way around. Captial Moves is an historically and geographically comparative study of the impact of capital migration on working-class communities., "This is one of those rare books that would have benefited from being longer. . . A compelling reinterpretation of postwar American history."--Lawrence B. Glickman, University of South Carolina. American Historical Review, October 2000, The author brings to life through a well-written narrative and the skilful use of oral history. Fundamentally, Cowie reinforces the need for labour historians and industrial relations scholars to consider both the spatial and temporal dimensions of work., "After reading Cowie's thorough and even-handed treatment of highly complex issues, one is left with neither outright despair no giddy optimism. . . His intention is to make people aware of the historical forces that have shaped our lives, and how our lives in turn are embedded to these forces."--Tom McCourt, University of Illinois at Springfield. Journal of Communication, September 2001, This is one of those rare books that would have benefited from being longer.... A compelling reinterpretation of postwar American history., Capital Moves is a stunningly important work of historical imagination and rediscovery which links the present with the past in a fashion that is exciting and suggestive. Jefferson Cowie has written no 'contribution to the literature,' but instead has reconfigured a huge slice of recent business and labor history. His is one of the most provocative and useful books I have read in many years., "Jefferson Cowie takes us on a remarkable tour of four communities transformed by industrial capitalism. This powerful, original book recasts our understanding of capitalism, labor, gender, and geography. It is a sobering reflection on the possibilities and limits of community in an era of transregional and transnational economic power. Capital Moves is must reading for those who want to understand the forces that have reshaped the American and global economies over the last half century." -Thomas J. Sugrue, University of Pennsylvania, Cowie presents a bold thesis challenging the orthodoxy of globalization theorists by detailing the history of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in four different locations and times.... Capital Moves is an essential volume for all those seeking to understand labor in the global economy--present and past., "Capital Moves-based impressively on research about four sites and in two languages-exemplifies the salutary effect of the revival of geography on the social sciences. Cowie's core argument-that in spite of the claimed novelty of globalization, spatial factors long have been critical to the stability of capitalist production-deserves close attention."-Dissent, Spring 2000, "Cowie presents a bold thesis challenging the orthodoxy of globalization theorists by detailing the history of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in four different locations and times. . . Capital Moves is an essential volume for all those seeking to understand labor in the global economy--present and past."--David Palmer, Enterprise and Society, March 2001, "The author brings to life through a well-written narrative and the skilful use of oral history. Fundamentally, Cowie reinforces the need for labour historians and industrial relations scholars to consider both the spatial and temporal dimensions of work."--Journal of Industrial Relations. March, 2000., "The strength of Capital Moves is its narrative, which demonstrates, better than any schematic argument or abstract model could, the persistent logic behind RCA's location decisions. . . . Its argument is one from which labor can take hope, for it suggests that the strategy of capital relocation is, ultimately, self-undermining."-Kimberly Phillips-Fein, New Labor Forum. Spring/Summer 2000., "This is one of those rare books that would have benefited from being longer. . . A compelling reinterpretation of postwar American history."-Lawrence B. Glickman, University of South Carolina. American Historical Review, October 2000, "Jefferson Cowie takes us on a remarkable tour of four communities transformed by industrial capitalism. This powerful, original book recasts our understanding of capitalism, labor, gender, and geography. It is a sobering reflection on the possibilities and limits of community in an era of transregional and transnational economic power. Capital Moves is must reading for those who want to understand the forces that have reshaped the American and global economies over the last half century." --Thomas J. Sugrue, University of Pennsylvania, This book is a major contribution both to labor and community studies. Examining four communities across seven decades, Cowie reveals larger patterns that would be lost in a cross-sectional study of one community.... Jefferson Cowie gives historians a model for tracing the histories of these communities as well as for following companies' stories after they depart., Capital Moves --based impressively on research about four sites and in two languages--exemplifies the salutary effect of the revival of geography on the social sciences. Cowie's core argument--that in spite of the claimed novelty of globalization, spatial factors long have been critical to the stability of capitalist production--deserves close attention., "Capital Moves is a stunningly important work of historical imagination and rediscovery which links the present with the past in a fashion that is exciting and suggestive. Jefferson Cowie has written no 'contribution to the literature,' but instead has reconfigured a huge slice of recent business and labor history. His is one of the most provocative and useful books I have read in many years."--Nelson Lichtenstein, University of Virginia, "This book is significant because of its powerful story, innovative methodology, and the challenges and elaborations it offers to contemporary research on industrial restructuring."--Linda Lobao, Ohio State University. Contemporary Sociology, "This is a thought-provoking and innovative piece of scholarship that deserves a wide audience."--Choice, "The author brings to life through a well-written narrative and the skilful use of oral history. Fundamentally, Cowie reinforces the need for labour historians and industrial relations scholars to consider both the spatial and temporal dimensions of work."-Journal of Industrial Relations. March, 2000., Labor historian Jefferson Cowie's book, Capital Moves , makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the way 'capital mobility' is enacted on the ground. This important work is a social history in the 'subaltern' tradition., Jefferson Cowie's important book mobilizes labor history, social history, and gender analysis to challenge conventional conceptions of globalization and transnational capital migration. He traces RCA's factory relocations from the 1930s to the present, both within the United States and into Mexico, exposing the long-standing dynamic of industrial relocation as a response to working-class struggles, and showing how relocation in turn leads inexorably to labor and community resistance in each new locality. This insightful book deserves attention from anyone interested in cross-border organizing.--Ruth Milkman, University of California, Los Angeles|9780801435256|, "Capital Moves: RCA's Seventy-Year Quest for Cheap Labor is not the old familiar tale of deindustrialization as it exists in the popular imagination. . . Cowie insists upon resurrecting the agency of local communities and upon portraying how worker actions affected decisions taken by management, perhaps more than the other way around. Captial Moves is an historically and geographically comparative study of the impact of capital migration on working-class communities."-Joanna B. Swanger, Earlham College. Latin American Research Review, June 2003., "A conceptually rich and deeply humane book. Jefferson Cowie narrates how industrial workers in two nations and four different communities coped with one company's relentless search for cheap and pliable labor. He is a rare historian who illuminates the future by explaining a vital part of the past."--Michael Kazin, author of The Populist Persuasion: An American History, "Capital Moves--based impressively on research about four sites and in two languages--exemplifies the salutary effect of the revival of geography on the social sciences. Cowie's core argument--that in spite of the claimed novelty of globalization, spatial factors long have been critical to the stability of capitalist production--deserves close attention."--Dissent, Spring 2000, After reading Cowie's thorough and even-handed treatment of highly complex issues, one is left with neither outright despair no giddy optimism.... His intention is to make people aware of the historical forces that have shaped our lives, and how our lives in turn are embedded to these forces., A conceptually rich and deeply humane book. Jefferson Cowie narrates how industrial workers in two nations and four different communities coped with one company's relentless search for cheap and pliable labor. He is a rare historian who illuminates the future by explaining a vital part of the past.

Dewey Edition21

Grade FromCollege Graduate Student

Dewey Decimal338.7/621381/0973

SynopsisFind a pool of cheap, pliable workers and give them jobs--and soon they cease to be as cheap or as pliable. What is an employer to do then? Why, find another poor community desperate for work. This route--one taken time and again by major American manufacturers--is vividly chronicled in this fascinating account of RCA's half century-long search for desirable sources of labor. Capital Moves introduces us to the people most affected by the migration of industry and, most importantly, recounts how they came to fight against the idea that they were simply "cheap labor." Jefferson Cowie tells the dramatic story of four communities, each irrevocably transformed by the opening of an industrial plant. From the manufacturer's first factory in Camden, New Jersey, where it employed large numbers of southern and eastern European immigrants, RCA moved to rural Indiana in 1940, hiring Americans of Scotch-Irish descent for its plant in Bloomington. Then, in the volatile 1960s, the company relocated to Memphis where African Americans made up the core of the labor pool. Finally, the company landed in northern Mexico in the 1970s--a region rapidly becoming one of the most industrialized on the continent., Find a pool of cheap, pliable workers and give them jobs--and soon they cease to be as cheap or as pliable. What is an employer to do then? Why, find another poor community desperate for work. This route--one taken time and again by major American..., Find a pool of cheap, pliable workers and give them jobs--and soon they cease to be as cheap or as pliable. What is an employer to do then? Why, find another poor community desperate for work. This route--one taken time and again by major American manufacturers--is vividly chronicled in this fascinating account of RCA's half-century-long search for desirable sources of labor. Capital Moves introduces us to the people most affected by the migration of industry and, most important, recounts how they came to fight against the idea that they were simply "cheap labor."

LC Classification NumberHD9696.A3U5334 1999