| A Coat of Many Colors: Immigration, Globalization, and Reform in New York City's Garment Industry Contributor(s): Soyer, Daniel (Editor), Abram, Ruth (Preface by) |
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ISBN: 0823224872 ISBN-13: 9780823224876 Publisher: Fordham University Press OUR PRICE: $41.80 Product Type: Paperback Published: April 2004 Annotation: For more than a century and a halffrom the middle of the 19th century tothe end of the 20ththe garment industry was the largest manufacturingindustry in New York City, and New York made more clothes than anywhere else.For generations, the industry employed more New Yorkers than any other andwas central to the citys history, culture, and identity.Today, although no longer the big heart of industrial New York, the needletrades are still an important part of the citys economyespecially for the newwaves of immigrants who cut, sew, and assemble clothing in shops aroundthe five boroughs.In this valuable book, historians, sociologists, and economists explore the rise andfall of the garment industry and its impact on New York and its people, as part ofa global process of economic change.Essays trace the rise of the industry, from the creation of a Manhattan garmentdistrict employing immigrants from nearby tenements to the contemporaryspread of Chinese-owned shops in cheaper neighborhoods. The tumultuoushistory of workers and their bosses is the focus of chapters on contractors andlabor militants and on the experiences of Italian, Chinese, Jewish, Dominican, and other ethnic workers. The final chapter looks at air labor, social responsibility, and the political economy of the offshore garment industry. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Social History - Business & Economics | Commerce - Business & Economics | Careers - Job Hunting |
| Dewey: 331.768 |
| LCCN: 2005006635 |
| Physical Information: 0.84" H x 6.06" W x 8.7" (0.99 lbs) 296 pages |
| Themes: - Geographic Orientation - New York - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: For more than a century and a half-from the middle of the 19th century to the end of the 20th-the garment industry was the largest manufacturing industry in New York City, and New York made more clothes than anywhere else. For generations, the industry employed more New Yorkers than any other and was central to the city's history, culture, and identity. Today, although no longer the big heart of industrial New York, the needle trades are still an important part of the city's economy-especially for the new waves of immigrants who cut, sew, and assemble clothing in shops around the five boroughs. In this valuable book, historians, sociologists, and economists explore the rise and fall of the garment industry and its impact on New York and its people, as part of a global process of economic change. Essays trace the rise of the industry, from the creation of a Manhattan garment district employing immigrants from nearby enements to the contemporary spread of Chinese-owned shops in cheaper neighborhoods. The tumultuoushistory of workers and their bosses is the focus of chapters on contractors and labor militants and on the experiences of Italian, Chinese, Jewish, Dominican, and other ethnic workers. The final chapter looks at air labor, social responsibility, and the political economy of the offshore garment industry. |
Contributor Bio(s): Soyer, Daniel: - Daniel Soyer is Associate Professor of History at Fordham University and the author of Jewish Immigrant Associations and American Identity in New York, 1880-1939, co-winner of the Saul Viener Prize of the American Jewish Historical Society. |