Book Rec: Janesville, An American Story
What happens when a factory leaves town?
Introducing the Kedits Shop
In a new addition to Kedits, I’ll be sending out intermittent book recommendations. I’ve signed up to be an affiliate on Bookshop, where they’ll maintain a storefront of all my books. I have books arranged into shelves that have various themes. I’ll make non fiction recommendations for now. And full disclosure, I earn affiliate links if you purchase from my storefront.
From the Shelf: The Great Recession Earned Its Title
Book: Janesville, by Amy Goldstein
Janesville: An American Story
This book centers around the closing of the GM manufacturing plant in Janesville, WI. Lots of plants from lots of manufacturers have closed in the US. This one merited attention because it was a milestone of a closure: it was GM’s oldest continually operating plant at the time.
It also got wrapped up in politics. Then candidate Barack Obama spoke at the plant in early 2008, on the heels of pretty troubling announcement by GM of staggering losses the year before. He said he believed that the government could help to keep the plant open. In the summer, before he was elected, GM announced they were closing the plant. By the time Obama was sworn in a year later in early 2009, most of the workers had been laid off. Fast forward four years, to the 2012 election. Obama is facing off with Mitt Romney and the congressman representing Janesville—Paul Ryan—was running as Romney’s vice president. Ryan several times said Obama had promised to keep the plant open, a lie. It became a frequent fact checker subject on the campaign trail. Ryan included it in his nominating convention speech despite having been corrected already.
Amy Goldstein, a reporter for the Washington Post, reported from Janesville and followed workers, city leaders, social workers, and business leaders as they dealt with a factory closing in the middle of a horrible recession.
I think anyone, particularly economists, who research or write about unemployment should be required to read this book. There is no comparable job in Janesville to the unionized, high-paying assembly jobs that guaranteed health and pension for its workers. Goldstein follows these now unemployment workers, some as they retrain for a new, lower paying job, some as they commute hundreds of miles to Indiana to work in another GM plant, some who find nothing. It’s a deep view into the journey of permanent job losers, and how the job loss affects their family and their community.
The only difference between an employed and an unemployed worker is a job. But that’s not how we talk about them or treat them, and Goldstein’s accounts put into perspective how much we “otherize” the unemployed. They must have been bad at their job, not hardworking enough, picked a job poorly. I’ve written before about how much Americans don’t like unemployed people. This book allows you to spend some time with them.
Take a common accusation made against people on unemployment benefits—they are lazy and should take the first job they can get. One of the workers in this book has no higher ambition than wanting to maintain the standard of living of his family, at least until his children graduate high school. He doesn’t want to sell his house, he doesn’t want his kids working multiple jobs at 16. If he takes a lower paying job, he’ll have to do both, so he holds out as long as he can. Is he freeloading? Is he whats wrong with America? Or are you rooting for him?
I recommend this book because I think everyone should interrogate their views on the unemployed, should get deep into the lives of workers, and think about how they hope the story will end.
Excerpt here in the Post.
Link to buy here.