Hanging by a Thread

Description

Social Change in Southern Textiles

Edited by Jeffrey Leiter, Michael D. Schulman, and Rhonda Zingraff
ILR Press

From the book:

This book brings together the research of sociologists and historians on textiles and textile workers in the southern United States. “Hanging by a thread” is a metaphor that describes the past and the uncertain future of the southern textile industry, its workers, families, and communities. Both the industry and the lives of its workers are fragile: job security and profits have followed volatile production cycles, and pressures to cut costs have intensified demands on workers. Changes in the world economy, in corporate organization, and in the labor process are causing a restructuring of the industry.