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Working Communities and the Victorian-American Company Town

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The Plurality of Power

Part of the book series: Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology ((CGHA))

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Abstract

Fayette was a geographically isolated town whose sole purpose was to smelt iron. It is generally representative of company towns in Victorian America, and its workforce experienced many of the same relationships to industrial technology and bureaucratic management as other employees immersed in industrial capitalism elsewhere. Its residents were also immersed in broader ideologies surrounding mass consumerism, morality, and proper work ethics. Residents of company towns like Fayette experienced corporate paternalism in most aspects of their lives, because residents relied on the company for nearly all their goods and services. Archaeologists, historians, and land managers have generated a tremendous amount of research on Fayette Historic State Park. Much of that research is synthesized in this volume with respect to power relations in industrial capitalism.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Sarah E. Cowie

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  1. Sarah E. Cowie
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Correspondence to Sarah E. Cowie .

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Cowie, S.E. (2011). Working Communities and the Victorian-American Company Town. In: The Plurality of Power. Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8306-0_2

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