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History General

One Job Town

Work, Belonging, and Betrayal in Northern Ontario

by (author) Steven High

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Jun 2018
Category
General, 20th Century, Corporate & Business History, Social Work
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781442640832
    Publish Date
    Jun 2018
    List Price
    $106.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781442610231
    Publish Date
    May 2018
    List Price
    $49.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487518677
    Publish Date
    May 2018
    List Price
    $49.95

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Description

There’s a pervasive sense of betrayal in areas scarred by mine, mill and factory closures. Steven High’s One Job Town delves into the long history of deindustrialization in the paper-making town of Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, located on Canada’s resource periphery. Much like hundreds of other towns and cities across North America and Europe, Sturgeon Falls has lost their primary source of industry, resulting in the displacement of workers and their families.

 

One Job Town takes us into the making of a culture of industrialism and the significance of industrial work for mill-working families. One Job Town approaches deindustrialization as a long term, economic, political, and cultural process, which did not begin and simply end with the closure of the local mill in 2002. High examines the work-life histories of fifty paper mill workers and managers, as well as city officials, to gain an in-depth understanding of the impact of the formation and dissolution of a culture of industrialism. Oral history and memory are at the heart of One Job Town, challenging us to rethink the relationship between the past and the present in what was formerly known as the industrialized world.

About the author

 

Steven High is the author of Industrial Sunset: The Making of North America's Rustbelt, winner of the John Porter Memorial Book Prize and the Albert B. Corey Prize.

 

Steven High's profile page

Awards

  • Winner, 2018 OHS Fred Landon Award awarded by the Ontario Historical Society
  • Winner, The Clio Ontario Region Prize awarded by the Canadian Historical Association

Editorial Reviews

"One Job Town is simply one of the finest books written about Northern Ontario. It is a model study that the academic community and, more importantly, those living in Northern Ontario will be excited about."

<em>University of Toronto Quarterly: Letters in Canada 2018</em>

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