| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 92.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 169 words from this article are provided below; about 376 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 92.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. By Lisa M. Fine. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004. xiv, 239 pp. Cloth, $69.50, ISBN 1-59213-257-X. Paper, $22.95, ISBN 1-59213-258-8.)

Case studies are the indispensable building blocks of history, for they provide the details of particular events that make causal explanation possible. Comparing case studies of related events allows us to separate the general from the specific causal forces at work. Lisa M. Fine's case study of auto workers in the Reo Company of Lansing, Michigan, promises to enrich and complicate our understanding of this crucial industry in labor history. She argues that the company's uniquely homogeneous work force—overwhelmingly white, native-born, and male—resulted in labor relations more conservative and paternalistic there than in the rest of the industry, thus revealing the operation of specific causal factors beyond general class relations. But Fine's failure to recognize the similarities of Reo workers to other auto workers undermines her arguments for the importance of race and gender.

. . .

There are about 376 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.