Description
Following the flight of one woman’s factory job from the United States to Mexico, this compelling work offers a revealing and unprecedented look at the flesh-and-blood consequences of globalization. In this absorbing and affecting narrative history, investigative journalist William M. Adler traces the migration of one factory job as it passes from the cradle of American industry, Paterson, New Jersey, to rural Mississippi during the turmoil of the civil rights movement, to the burgeoning border city of Matamoros, Mexico. The story of Mollie James, Dorothy Carter, and Balbina Duque, their company, and their communities provides an ideal prism through which to explore the larger issues at the heart of the new economy: the decline of unions and the middle class, the growing gap between rich and poor, public policies rewarding U.S. companies for transferring jobs abroad, and the ways in which “free trade” undermines stable businesses and communities. Combining a deft historian’s touch with first-rate reporting, Mollie’s Job is a provocative and fresh perspective on the global economy — at a time when downsizing is unraveling the American Dream for many working families. Contents Introduction: End of the Line PART I: PATERSON 1. Dimples Takes a Ride 2. The Golden Land 3. High, Wide and Handsome 4. The World of Tomorrow 5. Eight Days a Week 6. Farrell Dobbs’s Vision 7. “All Hell Broke Loose” PART II: MISSISSIPPI 8. Biscuits and Bond Issues 9. Working for the Railroad 10. Handbills from Heaven PART III: MEXICO 11. Border Dreams 12. Leveraged Lives 13. “On the Border, By the Sea” 14. The Lucky Ones 15. Sleeping with the Elephant Epilogue: “Thank God for NAFTA” Acknowledgments Selected Bibliography Source Notes Index
