Corporate Wasteland: The Landscape and Memory of Deindustrialization

by Steven High, David W. Lewis

Deindustrialization is not simply an economic process, but a social and cultural one as well. The rusting detritus of our industrial past―the wrecked hulks of factories, abandoned machinery too large to remove, and now-useless infrastructures―has for decades been a part of the North American landscape. In recent years, however, these modern ruins have become cultural attractions, drawing increasing numbers of adventurers, artists, and those curious about a forgotten heritage. Through a unique blend of oral history, photographs, and interpretive essays, Corporate Wasteland investigates this fascinating terrain and the phenomenon of its loss and rediscovery.

Steven High and David W. Lewis begin by exploring an emerging aesthetic they term the deindustrial sublime, explaining how the ritualized demolition of landmark industrial structures served as dramatic punctuations between changing eras. They then follow the narrative path blazed by urban spelunkers, explorers who infiltrate former industrial sites and then share accounts and images of their exploits in a vibrant online community. And to understand the ways in which geographic and emotional proximity affects how deindustrialization is remembered and represented, High and Lewis focus on Youngstown, Ohio, where residents and former steelworkers still live amid the reminders of more prosperous times.

Corporate Wasteland concludes with photo essays of sites in Michigan, Ontario, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania that pair haunting images with the poignant testimonies of those who remember industrial sites as workplaces rather than monuments. Forcing readers to look beyond nostalgia, High and Lewis reinterpret our deindustrialized landscape as a historical and imaginative challenge to the ways in which we comprehend and respond to the profound disruptions wrought by globalization.

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Mariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

My biggest issue, which is more with the people the book is about than the book itself, is the idea that there was any nationalist motivation behind American companies closing Canadian plants. It's not as if those same American companies treated American workers in the American plants they shut down any better than the Canadian workers, and I wish the author addressed that. The chapter on urban exploration made me think of the literature of post-industrial tourism I read ages ago. Decontextualization of industrial sites combined with overt consumerism and "edu-tainment." The image on the cover is from Pittsburgh.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the stories behind US Rustbelt cities and some cases closer to home in Canada.