Name: Company Towns. Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust
Price: 2623.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock
Author: Elizabeth Mitchell Elder
ISBN: 9780226844510

portada Company Towns. Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust

Company Towns. Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust

Type

Physical Book

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Author

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder

Collection

Chicago Studies in American Politics

Year

2026

Pages

192

Format

Hardcover

Dimensions

22.90 x 15.20 cm

ISBN13

9780226844510

Company Towns. Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder (Author) · University of Chicago Press · Hardcover

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Delivery: 20 Aug - 01 Sep

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Synopsis "Company Towns. Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust"

Reveals the deep, historical roots of public distrust in former mining areas in the US, shedding new light on the corrosive feedback loops that persist today. In Company Towns, Elizabeth Mitchell Elder examines the long-lasting political legacies of mining-company dominance in the Midwest and Appalachia. While the economic consequences of deindustrialization are well-known, Elder shifts the focus to a more insidious problem: the political dysfunction that took root long before the mines shut down. Drawing on historical and administrative data, Elder shows that the coal industry hindered the growth of local government capacity in the places where it was dominant. Mining companies also engaged in outright corruption to shape local governments, practices which local elites then carried forward. When mining companies withdrew, they left behind not just economic decline, but local governments ill-equipped to govern. These patterns have had enduring consequences for public life. Elder shows how these historical experiences have fueled a broader cynicism toward government, in which citizens expect little from public institutions and doubt the usefulness of elections. Company Towns underscores the consequences of corporate dominance for state capacity, public opinion, and democratic accountability today.