#mine town

[fathertimesbat]

住んでいると住んでいない社宅 in 足尾(銅鉱山あったところ)。 Company housing - still occupied and abandoned (in Ashio, site of a former copper mine).

[circle-of-trees]

[reese-linds]

Abandoned mine town. Montana.

[allanlasser]

Mine Towns

In Spring 2012 I participated in a seminar on cultural landscapes in Boston University’s American Studies Department. The seminar was focused on the pioneering work of J. B. Jackson and his students, including John R. Stilgoe among others. It was my first introduction to cultural landscape studies and I was taken with the subject. Each session required a short write-up of the week’s readings to help us form opinions before discussion. I’ll be publishing some of the better pieces here.

Mine Towns, by Alison K. Hoagland, is another account of the influence of corporate interests and capitalist economics upon the landscape. This varies from the other texts, however, in that it concerns domesticity and community. I paid particular attention to they way in which a combination of corporate patriarchy and profit motive shaped the residential landscape. How were the lives of citizens shaped by their corporate benefactor and, by extension, the capitalist profit motive?

The company owned the town and the land, using the promise of well-paid job to entice workers. Due to the relative isolation of Michagan’s uppper penninsula, before the mines were installed population was sparse and businesses had no interest in serving the insignificant populations. The mining companies had to build entire towns surrounding their operations, at significant cost. Company management, however, viewed these costs as an investment—an investment the company made in the town and its citizens. In return, the company recieved a loyal workforce.

Companies continualy expressed a desire to attract families, for the stability and tranquility they implied. Of course not all families are calm and quiet. In comparison to rowdy, transient bachelors, however, a responsible miner with a demanding family was the ideal tranquil employee. For the high population of non-working wives, siblings, and children the companies funded the construction of schools, libraries, churches, and many other communal areas unrelated to business concerns. These gifts to the community came at company expense, but again were seen as an investment in guaranteeing the quality of the workforce. The companies of the upper penninsula were not only interested in building the town—they wanted to build its community as well.

Without the company the town could not exist; without the town, the company could not operate. These North-Michagan mining towns maintained a symbiosis with the companies which funded them. This symbiosis was imperfect, however, because the company almost always had the upper hand. Since it owned most of the land and residences it built for its workers, the company could be seen as a benevolent provider or a vicious arbiter. This became especially apparent during the early Twentieth Century strikes, when the company threatened to evict strikers and destroy the life they worked so hard to build. These instances were rare, however, and generally corporate benevolence was the default operating principle.

This patriarchial relationship between individuals and for-profit corporations is interesting in its success: the company made a profit and the employees were satisfied. While contemporary relationships have changed, conceptually they still follow the same welfare capitalism utilized a century ago. Corporations—especially multinational ones—do not build homes for their employees; but they do provide them with services like healthcare and continue to substantially provide to charities. Like the mine towns of North Michagin but only on a larger scale, the corporate influence upon the American life is significant. Perhaps by tracing its origins and understanding the reasons for its inception can we gain a new perspective on the continuation of these contemporary practices.

[raptor-rider]

huff im exactly halfway done with the city hall. so you guessed UPDATE! 4!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHH lol. time to get the other book cover and then the other 4 cans and city hall is done.