RENT TEXTBOOKS

The Production of Difference Race and the Management of Labor in U.S. History

by: Roediger, David R.; Esch, Elizabeth D.

ISBN: 9780199739752 | 0199739757

Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Pub. Date: 6/1/2012

Why Rent from Knetbooks?

Because Knetbooks knows college students. Our rental program is designed to save you time and money. Whether you need a textbook for a semester, quarter or even a summer session, we have an option for you. Simply select a rental period, enter your information and your book will be on its way!

Top 5 reasons to order all your textbooks from Knetbooks:

We have the lowest prices on thousands of popular textbooks
Free shipping both ways on ALL orders
Most orders ship within 48 hours
Need your book longer than expected? Extending your rental is simple
Our customer support team is always here to help

Summary Table of Contents Author Biography

In 1907, pioneering labor historian and economist John Commons argued that US management had shown just one "symptom of originality," namely "playing one race against the other." In this eye-opening book, David Roediger and Elizabeth Esch offer a radically new way of understanding the history of management in the United States, placing race, migration, and empire at the center of what has sometimes been narrowly seen as a search for efficiency and economy. Ranging from the antebellum period to the coming of the Great Depression, the book examin... MOREes the extensive literature slave masters produced on how to manage and "develop" slaves; explores what was perhaps thegreatest managerial feat in U.S. history, the building of the transcontinental railroad, which pitted Chinese and Irish work gangs against each other; and concludes by looking at how these strategies survive today in the management of hard, low-paying, dangerous jobs in agriculture, military support, andmeatpacking. Roediger and Esch let us see afresh what slaves, immigrants, and all working people were up against as the objects of managerial control. Managers explicitly ranked racial groups, both in terms of which labor they were best suited for and their relative value compared to others. The authors show how whites relied on such alleged racial knowledge to manage and believed that the "lesser races" could only benefit from their tutelage. These views wove together managerial strategies andwhite supremacy not only ideologically but practically, every day at workplaces. Even in factories governed by scientific management, the impulse to play races against each other, and to slot workers into jobs categorized by race, constituted powerful management tools used to enforce discipline,lower wages, keep workers on dangerous jobs, and undermine solidarity. Painstakingly researched and brilliantly argued, The Production of Difference will revolutionize the history of labor and race in the United States.

IIn 1907, pioneering labor historian and economist John Commons argued that U.S. management had shown just one "symptom of originality," namely "playing one race against the other." In this eye-opening book, David Roediger and Elizabeth Esch offer a radically new way of understanding the history of management in the United States, placing race, migration, and empire at the center of what has sometimes been narrowly seen as a search for efficiency and economy. Ranging from the antebellum period to the coming of the Great Depression, the book examines the extensive literature slave masters produced on how to manage and "develop" slaves; explores what was perhaps the greatest managerial feat in U.S. history, the building of the transcontinental railroad, which pitted Chinese and Irish work gangs against each other; and concludes by looking at how these strategies survive today in the management of hard, low-paying, dangerous jobs in agriculture, military support, and meatpacking. Roediger and Esch convey what slaves, immigrants, and all working people were up against as the objects of managerial control. Managers explicitly ranked racial groups, both in terms of which labor they were best suited for and their relative value compared to others. The authors show how whites relied on such alleged racial knowledge to manage and believed that the "lesser races" could only benefit from their tutelage. These views wove together managerial strategies and white supremacy not only ideologically but practically, every day at workplaces. Even in factories governed by scientific management, the impulse to play races against each other, and to slot workers into jobs categorized by race, constituted powerful management tools used to enforce discipline, lower wages, keep workers on dangerous jobs, and undermine solidarity. Painstakingly researched and brilliantly argued,The Production of Differencewill revolutionize the history of labor and race in the United States.

Centering on race and empire, this book revolutionizes the history of management. From slave management to U.S. managers functioning as transnational experts on managing diversity, it shows how " was made at the margins. Even in "scientific" management, playing races against each other remained a hallmark of managerial strategy.

... MORE

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: Race in the History of U.S. Management	p. 3
Facing South
The Antebellum South and the Origins of Race Management: African Slavery, Indian Removal, and Irish Labor	p. 19
Managing the Negro: The African Slave as Asset and Animal	p. 40
Facing West
Frontiers of Control: Infrastructure, Western Expansion, and Race Management	p. 67
Crossing Borders: Racial Knowledge and the Transnational Triumphs of U.S. Management	p. 98
Changing the Whole Story
Continuity and Change: Scientific Management, Race Management, and the Persistence of the "Foreman's Empire"	p. 139
The Crisis of Race Management: Immigrant Rebellions, Immigration Restrictions, and a New Focus on Black and Mexican Labor	p. 170
Afterword: Then and Now	p. 205
Notes	p. 213
Index	p. 277
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

David R. Roediger is Babcock Professor of History, University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana, and the author of How Race Survived U.S. History and The Wages of Whiteness, among other titles.
Elizabeth D. Esch is Assistant Professor of History and American Studies and a member of the Consortium for Critical Interdisciplinary Study at Barnard College-Columbia University.

Please wait while this item is added to your cart...