|
|
|
Review
| A Coat of Many Colors: Immigration, Globalization, and Reform in New York City's Garment Industry, edited by Daniel Soyer. New York: Fordham University Press, 2005. 312 pages. $75.00, cloth; $26.00, paper.
|
| This anthology represents a comprehensive account of the history and development of the New York City garment industry, which was the city's signature manufacturing sector from the middle nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth. It is an interdisciplinary study, which includes essays by sociologists, historians, and economists, who investigate all aspects of the garment industry. Their examinations delve into the origins of the industry and the various demographic transformations it underwent throughout the century in terms of the changing centers of production within the city and the changing nature of the work force. Main themes of this study include the steadfast importance of the garment industry to the overall economy and infrastructure of New York City, its relation to the global economy, and the seemingly never ending influx of immigrant workers from all over the world. Many of the workers, Jews in the early era, and Chinese, Koreans and Dominicans in the modern period, also became entrepreneurs through the industry's unique structure of contractors. Contractors could be allies or foes of the unionization process because many were barely one step removed from the workforce. More often than not, they remained foes. Despite many transformations, the issues and problems present in the industry remained the same throughout its history. |
1
|
|
The book is divided into three categories. Part one presents the origin and development of the garment industry and its move from the lower East Side to mid town Manhattan and then to other regions, including Southern California. Part two portrays the ongoing class struggle between workers and owners despite the demographic changes of the work force. Class is a particularly important concept, as workers and owners are often of the same ethnicity. Part three discusses issues of corporate accountability and the effects on the industry and the work force of globalization and economic restructuring. The voices of the workers are presented by many of the scholars as the reader is introduced to conditions faced by them and their continued struggle to gain some measure of autonomy on the shop floor by the formation of unions, work stoppages, and other collective activities. There is an underlying theme of community as a social force for workers' control. Despite the ever-changing demographics and new influxes of immigrants, whether they be Jews and Italians in the early days, or Chinese, Koreans, and Dominicans in the modern period, these workers lived in close proximity to each other. This sense of community strengthened their resolve to better their lives by improving their working conditions and, in turn, their living conditions and the lives of their children. |
2
|
|
The book was sponsored by the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and by the Union of Needle Trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE represented the merger of all former garment industry unions and has since merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union to represent 450,000 workers nationwide. The anthology could have been strengthened by two additions. First, the garment industry could be placed in the context of the globalization process of which it was a part. This would have offered a more succinct explanation of the changing work force, capital mobility and why similar problems persist to plague unionization efforts throughout the years Showing the industry in the modern era in the context of the free trade agreements would have been useful as a learning tool for students, worker allies and other scholars. Second, as a teaching tool, simple charts could have been included depicting the structure of the garment industry which includes manufacturers, contractors, workers and the role and function of each. Common Threads, a Los Angeles based reform group which worked closely with UNITE, has developed such charts which clearly portray the apportioning of monies from the sale of a pair of jeans. Such charts are useful not only for pedagogical purposes, but for providing information in order to win support for the plight of the worker. |
3
|
|
Despite these minimal shortcomings, the anthology remains a valuable study guide for students and scholars in the social sciences, including women studies, ethnic studies, labor studies and business students and scholars as well. Although it concentrates on the New York City garment industry, lessons can be drawn from the book to apply to garment industries in other areas, especially Los Angeles. Teachers could also apply these lessons to show the effects of restructuring and globalization upon other industries. Many of the concepts and much of the material in the anthology might be difficult for undergraduates to grasp, but teachers can select or rework it and offer it in a form to which students could relate. The anthology offers a wealth of material for students, scholars and those interested in learning more about this vital sector of the United States economy. |
4
|
| | |
| California State University, Dominquez Hills |
Myrna Cherkoss Donahoe, emeritus |
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|