This is the fifth in a series of posts considering Amy Goldstein’s Janesville: An American Story. In this post, I’ll cover four chapters from Part Two (2009) of Janesville (Blackhawk, Ahead of the Class, A Plan and Distress Signals, and The Holiday Food Drive). Goldstein’s not polemical, and her descriptions are more subtle than they would be for…
Books
Books, Culture, Economy
Considering Janesville: An American Story (Part 4 of 14)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
This is the fourth in a series of posts considering Amy Goldstein’s Janesville: An American Story. In this post, I’ll cover five chapters from Part Two (2009) of Janesville (Rock County 5.0, The Fourth Last Day, Bidding War, Sonic Speed, and What Does a Union Man Do?). Goldstein describes the formation of Rock County 5.0 in this section…
Books, Culture, Economy, Janesville, Politics
Considering Janesville: An American Story (Part 3 of 14)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
This is the third in a series of posts considering Amy Goldstein’s Janesville: An American Story. In this post, I’ll write about five chapters of Janesville (Change in August, To the Renaissance Center, Mom, What Are You Going to Do?, When One Door of Happiness Closes, Another Opens, and The Parker Closet). In chapters 5 through 9, Goldstein…
Books, Culture, Economy, Janesville
Considering Janesville: An American Story (Part 2 of 14)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
This is the second in a series of posts considering Amy Goldstein’s Janesville: An American Story. In this post, I’ll write about the prologue and the first four chapters of Janesville (Prologue, A Ringing Phone, The Carp Swimming on Main Street, Craig, and A Retirement Party). Janesville, Wisconsin’s manufacturing story reaches back far before General Motors produced its…
Books, Culture, Economy, Janesville, Politics
Considering Janesville: An American Story (Part 1 of 14)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
This is the first in a series of posts considering Amy Goldstein’s Janesville: An American Story. Bloggers have the luxury of time, so I’ll happily use that abundance to write at length on Goldstein’s book, one for which many have been waiting these last few years. Before beginning, though, I’ll post an introduction to the book from the…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Trump
Considering The Politics of Resentment, Concluding Thoughts (Part 9 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
This is the ninth in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. I first thought I’d post, chapter by chapter, on Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment after I read her 11.13.16 article in the Washington Post, “How rural resentment helps explain the surprising victory…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘We Teach These Things to Each Other’ (Part 8 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This is the eighth in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. Cramer claims in Chapter 8 that Beyond garnering the insight that people use social identities to think about politics, this book also shows how social group divides can operate as the central…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘Reactions to the Ruckus’ (Part 7 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This is the seventh in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. In Chapter 7, Cramer describes the conditions immediately before, during, & immediately after the Great Recession, with consideration of Obama and Walker’s candidacies. With regard to Barack Obama, there’s much here that…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘Support for Small Government’ (Part 6 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
This is the sixth in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. In Chapter 6, Cramer declares that In this chapter, I am going to make the bold claim that support for small government is more about identity than principle. Cramer explains to readers…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘Attitudes toward Public Institutions and Public Employees’ (Part 5 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
This is the fifth in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. In Chapter 5, Cramer describes conversations she had with rural residents. In the early part of the chapter, she recounts discussions about the university system. Some rural residents tell her they don’t…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘The Context of Rural Consciousness’ (Part 4 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
This is the fourth in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. If in Chapter 3 Cramer sought to provide the contours (outlines) of a rural consciousness, in Chapter 4 she attempts to describe the context (the circumstances around it) of it all. Cramer…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘The Contours of Rural Consciousness’ (Part 3 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
This is the third in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. The simplest way to think about Cramer’s work, by analogy, is to think of it not as a scientific poll of attitudes and preferences, but as a series of considered focus…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘A Method of Listening’ (Part 2 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
This is the second in a series of posts considering Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. One might think that Cramer’s second chapter, ‘A Method of Listening,’ would be a dry (but useful & necessary) description of her methodology. It’s far from merely that: it’s an oddly…
Books, Culture, Economy, Politics, Wisconsin
Considering The Politics of Resentment, ‘Making Sense of Politics Through Resentment’ (Part 1 of 9)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
In a series of posts over the next week or so, I’ll consider Katherine Cramer’s Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. Cramer’s a native Wisconsinite teaching at UW-Madison. Today, I’ll summarize her thesis, as she presents it in the first chapter of PoR, ‘Making Sense of Politics Through Resentment.’…