Overview

From the early twentieth century until the 1960s, Maine led the nation in paper production. The state could have earned a reputation as the Detroit of paper production, however, the industry eventually slid toward failure. What happened? Shredding Paper unwraps the changing US political economy since 1960, uncovers how the paper industry defined and interacted with labor relations, and peels away the layers of history that encompassed the rise and fall of Maine's mighty paper industry. Michael G. Hillard deconstructs the paper industry's unusual technological and economic histories. For a century, the story of the nation's most widely read glossy magazines and card stock was one of capitalism, work, accommodation, and struggle. Local paper companies in Maine dominated the political landscape, controlling economic, workplace, land use, and water use policies. Hillard examines the many contributing factors surrounding how Maine became a paper powerhouse and then shows how it lost that position to changing times and foreign interests. Through a retelling of labor relations and worker experiences from the late nineteenth century up until the late 1990s, Hillard highlights how national conglomerates began absorbing family-owned companies over time, which were subject to Wall Street demands for greater short-term profits after 1980. This new political economy impacted the economy of the entire state and destroyed Maine's once-vaunted paper industry. Shredding Paper truthfully and transparently tells the great and grim story of blue-collar workers and their families and analyzes how paper workers formulated a ""folk"" version of capitalism's history in their industry. Ultimately, Hillard offers a telling example of the demise of big industry in the United States.

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9781501753152

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Reviews

Far from a dry study of the industry, Hillard's highly readable and engaging book features 150 interviews with the workers and mill managers themselves about what happened. Shredding Paper is highly recommended for anyone seeking an understanding of how Wall Street greed ravaged an industry that once made Maine the Detroit of paper and how workers organized and fought back. * Maine AF-CIO * The idea of good and bad capitalisms, and Hillard's riveting writing on the labor process and labor conflicts, simplifies historiographic and economic debates and makes them entertaining. For these reasons, the book is a useful review of core issues in modern labor history. * ILR Review * Michael G. Hillard, a Professor of Economics at the University of Southern Maine, has not only furnished a linear chronicle of neglected labour history. He has also brilliantly demonstrated how the plight of the paper mills of Maine served as a microcosm of rapidly changing markets and values across both the American and international economic landscape. [The book] offers a page-turning, scholarly analysis of a commodity at the centre of supply, demand and the ever-shifting quest to balance prosperity and dignified work. * The London School of Economics and Political Science *

Far from a dry study of the industry, Hillard's highly readable and engaging book features 150 interviews with the workers and mill managers themselves about what happened. Shredding Paper is highly recommended for anyone seeking an understanding of how Wall Street greed ravaged an industry that once made Maine the Detroit of paper and how workers organized and fought back. * Maine AF-CIO *

Far from a dry study of the industry, Hillard's highly readable and engaging book features 150 interviews with the workers and mill managers themselves about what happened. Shredding Paper is highly recommended for anyone seeking an understanding of how Wall Street greed ravaged an industry that once made Maine the Detroit of paper and how workers organized and fought back. * Maine AF-CIO * The idea of good and bad capitalisms, and Hillard's riveting writing on the labor process and labor conflicts, simplifies historiographic and economic debates and makes them entertaining. For these reasons, the book is a useful review of core issues in modern labor history. * ILR Review *

Author Information

Michael G. Hillard is Professor of Economics at the University of Southern Maine.

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