America's Johannesburg : industrialization and racial transformation in Birmingham /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Wilson, Bobby M., 1947- author.
Edition:	Paperback edition.
Imprint:	Athens, Georgia : The University of Georgia Press, 2019. ©2019
Description:	xv, 274 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.
Language:	English
Series:	Geographies of justice and social transformation ; 46 Geographies of justice and social transformation ; 46.
Subject:	African Americans -- Alabama -- Birmingham -- Social conditions. African Americans -- Alabama -- Birmingham -- Economic conditions. Industrialization -- Alabama -- Birmingham -- History. Capitalism -- Social aspects -- Alabama -- Birmingham -- History. African Americans -- Economic conditions. African Americans -- Social conditions. Capitalism -- Social aspects. Economic history. Industrialization. Race relations. Social conditions. Birmingham (Ala.) -- Social conditions. Birmingham (Ala.) -- Economic conditions. Birmingham (Ala.) -- Race relations. Alabama -- Birmingham. History.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12319280
Related Items:	Reprint of: America's Johannesburg

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:	Industrialization and racial transformation in Birmingham
ISBN:	9780820356273 0820356271 9780820356280
Notes:	"Originally published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc ... Copyright © 2000"--Title page verso. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"In some ways, no American city symbolizes the black struggle for civil rights more than Birmingham, Alabama. During the 1950s and 1960s, Birmingham gained national and international attention as a center of activity and unrest during the civil rights movement. Racially motivated bombings of the houses of black families who moved into new neighborhoods or who were politically active during this era were so prevalent that Birmingham earned the nickname "Bombingham." In this critical analysis of why Birmingham became such a national flashpoint, Bobby M. Wilson argues that Alabama's path to industrialism differed significantly from that of states in the North and Midwest. True to its antebellum roots, no other industrial city in the United States depended as much on the exploitation of black labor so early in its urban development as Birmingham. A persuasive exploration of the links between Alabama's slaveholding order and the subsequent industrialization of the state, America's Johannesburg demonstrates that arguments based on classical economics fail to take into account the ways in which racial issues influenced the rise of industrial capitalism"--

Review by Choice Review

The title of this book would seem to promise a case study of Birmingham, Alabama, a city founded in the aftermath of the Civil War that shortly thereafter became known as the "Pittsburgh of the South," constituting a crucial locale for the industrialization of the region. Wilson attempts to fuse variants of Marxist and other theories in providing an account of the emergence of what he refers to as a "planter based industrial regime." Claiming to make use of the critical Marxism of David Harvey, the regulationist school, urban regime theory, Kondratieff cycles, and a critical spatial theory of race, Wilson has written a study that constitutes an unfortunate theoretical overkill. To compound the theoretical problem, much of the book does not focus on Birmingham. Indeed, only nine of the 18 chapters actually discuss Birmingham in any sustained ways, and in several of these chapters the city is the focus in only some parts. This is regrettable because when he actually does discuss the city, Wilson is knowledgeable and insightful. General readers. P. Kivisto; Augustana College (IL)

Review by Choice Review

America's Johannesburg : industrialization and racial transformation in Birmingham /

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