Geography 490c The Country and the City Fall 2009

Contemporary Manufacturing and Immigrant Labor

Discussion Questions

Why did meatpacking move to rural areas?
What are the differences between the labor recruiting practices of plants in the U.S. and Canada?
What are the implications of these differences for the two communities?
How has the meatpacking plant transformed each of the communities?
What was the IBP revolution? How did it change the industry?
How have changes in technology and mobility facilitated the restructuring of the beef industry?
How is the ethnic composition of the workforce sometimes used to thwart efforts at unionization?
In what ways does this case study challenge traditional discourses about the country?

Geo 490c The Country & the City Spring 2009 Department of Geography and Meteorology Valparaiso University
Today's Readings Broadway, Michael. 2007. Meatpacking and the Transformation of Rural Communities: A Comparison of Brooks, Alberta and Garden City, Kansas. Rural Sociology 72, no. 4 (December): 560-582. Activities: Review Demographic Change Assignments Case study of immigrant labor in the meatpacking industry Reading Notes: As you read think about how this case illustrates some of the more general processes of rural restructuring we have been talking about. Key Terms: Boomtown, "Gillette Syndrome", disassembly line.	Contemporary Manufacturing and Immigrant Labor Discussion Questions Why did meatpacking move to rural areas? What are the differences between the labor recruiting practices of plants in the U.S. and Canada? What are the implications of these differences for the two communities? How has the meatpacking plant transformed each of the communities? What was the IBP revolution? How did it change the industry? How have changes in technology and mobility facilitated the restructuring of the beef industry? How is the ethnic composition of the workforce sometimes used to thwart efforts at unionization? In what ways does this case study challenge traditional discourses about the country?

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