"An excellent study not only of the cultural disruptions caused by the shutdown of Chrysler's operations
in Kenosha, Wisconsin, but also of the ideology of progress that abetted the shutdown."
--Stephen Amberg, Industrial and Labor Relations Review
"With the eye of an anthropologist, [Dudley] examines the tensions between the 'culture of hands' and the
'culture of mind.' Her account is especially instructive because, by many measures, Kenosha has successfully recovered,
yet for many the pain still remains."
--Booklist
"Exceptional. . . . Should be widely read."
--Douglas Harper, Contemporary Sociology
"Make[s] clear what a tenuous concept economic security is, especially when the rules for achieving security
are in flux."
--Barbara Presley Noble, New York Times
AAUP Web Site, August, 2000
Summary
The End of the Line tells the story of the 1988 closing of the Chrysler assembly plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Kathryn Marie Dudley uses interviews with residents to chart the often confusing process of change that deindustrialization
forced on every corner of the community. This honest, moving portrait of one town's radical shift from a manufacturing
to a postindustrial economy will redefine the way Americans think about our families, communities, and future.
