Capitalism comes to the backcountry: The Goodyear invasion of Napanee

by Bryan D. Palmer

In 1990, Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Corporation opened "the world's most modern tire plant" in Napanee, Ontario. In Capitalism Comes to the Backcountry, Bryan Palmer chronicles the machinations and manipulations the corporation used to entrench itself in a region desperate for jobs. Palmer explores the human dimensions of plant relocation, sordid corporate practices, and, ultimately, the corrosive cultural effects of corporate boosterism. He describes negotiations between Napanee officials and a secretive company, anxious to keep land costs low before it made its final move. Meanwhile the firm was successfully seeking $95 million in government subsidies. Capitalism Comes to the Backcountry is a vivid, hard-hitting expose of the workings of big business and their impact on people and their communities.

194 pages, Hardcover

First published January 12, 1994