Overview

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Author:   Judith Modell ,  Charlee Brodsky (Associate Professor of Photography, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Publisher:   University of Pittsburgh Press
Imprint:   University of Pittsburgh Press
Dimensions:   Width: 18.00cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 24.00cm
Weight:   0.771kg
ISBN:  

9780822956761

ISBN 10:   0822956764
Pages:   368
Publication Date:   22 October 1998
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Reviews

A Town Without Steel is about what happens about that center of gravity that has imploded. It's an intimate and revealing portrait of the myriad ways in which people coped or failed to cope with working in steel after it collapsed. . . . Complex, nuanced, yet analytical and grounded in solid historical account, A Town Without Steel is a model worth considering for anyone seeking to understand how people convey their sense of past. <br> --Journal of Social History

Looks at a community centered around the steel industry and its attempts to cope with massive unemployment of the mid-1980s and its effects on individuals, families, and the town. Interviews with 45 men and women shed light on the ways in which the mill closing affected the town across age, gender, and racial lines, and stark b&w photos depict the social landscape and the town's residents. --Reference & Research Book News

"In this rich book Judith Modell interviews the men and women of the ""steel valley."" Through their own words she records their agony, their hopes, and most of all their courage; and Charlee Brodsky's photographs reveal their streets, their homes, their faces and their souls. The more we read, and the more we look, the more deeply we tap into the vulnerability of ordinary people in our wolrld of merciless economic and technological change. But every page of this evocative and powerful book also reminds us of the opposite, that the strength of ordinary people and their sense of community are the best resource we have for the construction of recovery.""-- ""David Lewis, Carnegie-Mellon University"" The author of A Town Without Steel has an uncanny ability to integrate several voices; including those of the observer, the interviewer and the social analyst. The seamless quality of the book is one of its most attractive qualities. It is especially commendable that the author has presented the social science and history in such a way as to invite the general reader to her table.-- ""Douglas Harper, Duquesne University"" This is a fine book. It will be read by professionals in a variety of fields: historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and those involved in policy issues. The additions of Brodsky's photographs can only add to the sense of immediacy conveyed by Modell's superb handling of her interview material.-- ""Eugene Levy, Carnegie Mellon University"" ""In 1986 after three generations grew used to reaping the benefits of well-paying, unionized jobs, the mills closed. They were razed soon after that, leaving a vast empty expanse down by the river and a vast empty hole in the economy of the region. As morale plummeted, so did the constitution of the town, which brings us to today's situation: Homestead, a town without steel, struggling for a new identity and a chance to survive intact. . . . The hundred -year journey undergone by the people of homestead is grippingly chronicled in documentary fashion by Judith Modell, who spoke to several dozen residents in this town of 42 churches. From their running commentary, she pieces together a saga both heroic and tragic: The people who built the American way of life suffer the most from its consequences. . . . There are probably plenty of other books chronicling the history of the Pittsburgh region and its famous, now-defunct industry, but A Town Without Steel is probably one of the few to do so with a personal touch and the intelligence of an academic source book.""repeated quote: ""There are probably plenty of other books chronicling the history of the Pittsburgh region and its famous, now-defunct industry, but A Town Without Steel is probably one of the few to do so with a personal touch and the intelligence of an academic sourcesbook. After reading it I felt as if I'd taken a whole course at Pitt on the subject and learned something without paying for all the credits. With such enlightenment at hand, A Town Without Steel is a must-read for anyone interested in the history our region and won't remain unperused on anyone's coffee table for long.""--In Pittsburgh Newsweekly, 12/16/98-- ""IN PITTSBURGH"" A Town Without Steel is about what happens about that center of gravity that has imploded. It's an intimate and revealing portrait of the myriad ways in which people coped or failed to cope with working in steel after it collapsed. . . . Complex, nuanced, yet analytical and grounded in solid historical account, A Town Without Steel is a model worth considering for anyone seeking to understand how people convey their sense of past.-- ""Journal of Social History"" Carnegie Mellon University's Judith Modell (writer) and Chalee Brodsky (photographer) have interesting insights in picking apart their interviewees' perceptions, contrasting them with others' and with other aspects of the historical record. And there are some dramatic views of the change that ""deindustrialization"" has brought, along with wry comparisons with earlier studies of Homestead's rising industrialization, and excellent attention to racial disparities and problems.-- ""Upfront"" It is a wonderful example of how one can use the synthesis of photographs and interviews to understand the evolution of a landscape, an environment, and a community. If you want to know why scrapbooks and field notes are important, read this book.-- "" Journal of Visual Literacy"" Looks at a community centered around the steel industry and its attempts to cope with massive unemployment of the mid-1980s and its effects on individuals, families, and the town. Interviews with 45 men and women shed light on the ways in which the mill closing affected the town across age, gender, and racial lines, and stark b&w photos depict the social landscape and the town's residents.-- ""Reference & Research Book News"" Modell and Brodsky effectively integrate and anthropological and photographic perspective to envision a steel community before and after the mill closing. Their cultural approach illuminates the pivotal roles of family, church, and neighborhood and highlight gender and race elements.-- ""Pennsylvania History"""

"In this rich book Judith Modell interviews the men and women of the ""steel valley."" Through their own words she records their agony, their hopes, and most of all their courage; and Charlee Brodsky's photographs reveal their streets, their homes, their faces and their souls. The more we read, and the more we look, the more deeply we tap into the vulnerability of ordinary people in our wolrld of merciless economic and technological change. But every page of this evocative and powerful book also reminds us of the opposite, that the strength of ordinary people and their sense of community are the best resource we have for the construction of recovery.""-- ""David Lewis, Carnegie-Mellon University"" The author of A Town Without Steel has an uncanny ability to integrate several voices; including those of the observer, the interviewer and the social analyst. The seamless quality of the book is one of its most attractive qualities. It is especially commendable that the author has presented the social science and history in such a way as to invite the general reader to her table.-- ""Douglas Harper, Duquesne University"" This is a fine book. It will be read by professionals in a variety of fields: historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and those involved in policy issues. The additions of Brodsky's photographs can only add to the sense of immediacy conveyed by Modell's superb handling of her interview material.-- ""Eugene Levy, Carnegie Mellon University"" ""A Town Without Steel is about what happens about that center of gravity that has imploded. It's an intimate and revealing portrait of the myriad ways in which people coped or failed to cope with working in steel after it collapsed. . . . Complex, nuanced, yet analytical and grounded in solid historical account, A Town Without Steel is a model worth considering for anyone seeking to understand how people convey their sense of past."" --Journal of Social History ""In 1986 after three generations grew used to reaping the benefits of well-paying, unionized jobs, the mills closed. They were razed soon after that, leaving a vast empty expanse down by the river and a vast empty hole in the economy of the region. As morale plummeted, so did the constitution of the town, which brings us to today's situation: Homestead, a town without steel, struggling for a new identity and a chance to survive intact. . . . The hundred -year journey undergone by the people of homestead is grippingly chronicled in documentary fashion by Judith Modell, who spoke to several dozen residents in this town of 42 churches. From their running commentary, she pieces together a saga both heroic and tragic: The people who built the American way of life suffer the most from its consequences. . . . There are probably plenty of other books chronicling the history of the Pittsburgh region and its famous, now-defunct industry, but A Town Without Steel is probably one of the few to do so with a personal touch and the intelligence of an academic source book."" --IN PITTSBURGH ""Looks at a community centered around the steel industry and its attempts to cope with massive unemployment of the mid-1980s and its effects on individuals, families, and the town. Interviews with 45 men and women shed light on the ways in which the mill closing affected the town across age, gender, and racial lines, and stark b&w photos depict the social landscape and the town's residents."" --Reference & Research Book News ""In 1986 after three generations grew used to reaping the benefits of well-paying, unionized jobs, the mills closed. They were razed soon after that, leaving a vast empty expanse down by the river and a vast empty hole in the economy of the region. As morale plummeted, so did the constitution of the town, which brings us to today's situation: Homestead, a town without steel, struggling for a new identity and a chance to survive intact. . . . The hundred -year journey undergone by the people of homestead is grippingly chronicled in documentary fashion by Judith Modell, who spoke to several dozen residents in this town of 42 churches. From their running commentary, she pieces together a saga both heroic and tragic: The people who built the American way of life suffer the most from its consequences. . . . There are probably plenty of other books chronicling the history of the Pittsburgh region and its famous, now-defunct industry, but A Town Without Steel is probably one of the few to do so with a personal touch and the intelligence of an academic source book.""repeated quote: ""There are probably plenty of other books chronicling the history of the Pittsburgh region and its famous, now-defunct industry, but A Town Without Steel is probably one of the few to do so with a personal touch and the intelligence of an academic sourcesbook. After reading it I felt as if I'd taken a whole course at Pitt on the subject and learned something without paying for all the credits. With such enlightenment at hand, A Town Without Steel is a must-read for anyone interested in the history our region and won't remain unperused on anyone's coffee table for long.""--In Pittsburgh Newsweekly, 12/16/98-- ""IN PITTSBURGH"" A Town Without Steel is about what happens about that center of gravity that has imploded. It's an intimate and revealing portrait of the myriad ways in which people coped or failed to cope with working in steel after it collapsed. . . . Complex, nuanced, yet analytical and grounded in solid historical account, A Town Without Steel is a model worth considering for anyone seeking to understand how people convey their sense of past.-- ""Journal of Social History"" Carnegie Mellon University's Judith Modell (writer) and Chalee Brodsky (photographer) have interesting insights in picking apart their interviewees' perceptions, contrasting them with others' and with other aspects of the historical record. And there are some dramatic views of the change that ""deindustrialization"" has brought, along with wry comparisons with earlier studies of Homestead's rising industrialization, and excellent attention to racial disparities and problems.-- ""Upfront"" It is a wonderful example of how one can use the synthesis of photographs and interviews to understand the evolution of a landscape, an environment, and a community. If you want to know why scrapbooks and field notes are important, read this book.-- "" Journal of Visual Literacy"" Looks at a community centered around the steel industry and its attempts to cope with massive unemployment of the mid-1980s and its effects on individuals, families, and the town. Interviews with 45 men and women shed light on the ways in which the mill closing affected the town across age, gender, and racial lines, and stark b&w photos depict the social landscape and the town's residents.-- ""Reference & Research Book News"" Modell and Brodsky effectively integrate and anthropological and photographic perspective to envision a steel community before and after the mill closing. Their cultural approach illuminates the pivotal roles of family, church, and neighborhood and highlight gender and race elements.-- ""Pennsylvania History"""

A Town Without Steel is about what happens about that center of gravity that has imploded. It's an intimate and revealing portrait of the myriad ways in which people coped or failed to cope with working in steel after it collapsed. . . . Complex, nuanced, yet analytical and grounded in solid historical account, A Town Without Steel is a model worth considering for anyone seeking to understand how people convey their sense of past. <br> --Journal of Social History

Author Information

Judith Modell is professor of anthropology, history, and art at Carnegie Mellon University. She is the author of Ruth Benedict and Kinship with Strangers, as well as a number of theoretical and methodological articles.

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